Fall In the Ashes, Rise From the Shadows
by jazzmonkey
Summary: His life is perfect. As of now, bakugan has become a real-life thing. He has friends, fame, love, and a life. So, what happens when the person that he had never missed rises from the shadows to threaten everything he's come to know? Has he found himself too deep into the ashes? He'll do anything to protect his new found freedoms. Even if it means taking the fall that could end him.
1. Prologue: Devil

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own bakugan. Nothing more, nothing less. There are not really bakugan mentioned as the story goes on, so here's a little heads up:**

**Hydranoid, Tigrerra and Gorem have all gone back to Vestroia. All of Marucho's and Shun's bakugan are gone as well. Drago stays with Dan. Shun now uses virtual bakugan because he respects his bakugan's wishes to return, and doesn't feel like getting to know yet another partner. All in all, only Drago is going to be of any mention, and there is little battle at all throughout.**

**Also, the rating is just for some bad words and torture. I'm not going to be going into description until later chapters, and readers will be warned then. Thank you :)**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks/dreams

**_Bold Italics _**is notes, etc

Prologue

The trees were swaying gently as the breeze blew through their leaves. Everything was painted calm lustrous greens and blues. Yet, in the smallest patch of black, hidden in the shadows, was one last visitor to the tourist town.

His hair blended into an oddly artistic mixture of warm brown and deep indigo blue. His hair was full, curling at random places to crop along his ears and at the nape of his neck. The bangs whiskered his eyebrows, leading the gaze to a pair of grayish blue eyes. His skin was pale, but healthy, and his thin lips were currently pulled back in a smile.

After so long, he had made his way back. He had been forced to assume a new identity, leave his home, because of those two. He had done nothing to them. **Nothing they hadn't deserved…**

He remembered a boy the age of six, dark hair and amber eyes. A woman with pitch hair that flowed around her sweet face, and glittering green-blue eyes. He thought, lastly, of an old man that had trained him, raised him, and was a strong man despite his age.

He could still see, when he closed his eyes, a little boy that looked too much like someone else instead of him, too innocent. **Not strong enough to be a man of the house. A piece of sh*t.**

When he finally spotted the boy, now all grown up, he was surprised for a minute. He was famous, and completely milking it. He had an air of coolness about him that made many, as he could see, desire him. He had fangirls following him everywhere. It was disgusting. **That b*stard's forgotten about modesty, humility, and pain. He's lost the lessons that he had been taught.**

He would have to change that.

Instead, he focused all his time towards a silly game, and….friends. **And that little b*tch that he had fallen in love with. Foolish child. **That girl had taken away the boy's edge. His smile was too carefree, and did not even seem to remember his past. He saw when she kissed him. His face would light up, and it was utterly loathsome. Oh, yes, he would learn better soon. Oh yes he would.

It would all change. He would learn that not listening to his elders was very dangerous. **Oh, yes, he will learn. **The man melted into the background, biding his time.

Some blocks away, a young man was sleeping in his comfortable apartment. For others that looked into his life, he had it all. A wonderful girlfriend, several friends, a pleasant home, and the looks and fame to top it all off.

For his friends, he was a man that was a mystery, yet a person they would trust with their lives.

For ones that truly knew him, such as his best friend of seventeen years, they would see a young man who had overcome crappy situations in his past, and was quickly moving forward into a brighter future.

For him, he was a person who had simply gotten lucky enough to be blessed with the ability to hide his pain from the past that still haunted him. He was a young man that was unusual, so very calm and collected.

However tonight, it was the exact opposite. The past that he left behind came to haunt him in the fear of the night, hugging the recesses of his doubts. He turned in his bed, unknowingly twisting himself in the sheets.

_He remembered hiding. His mother told him to do it, in a tone she had never dared to use in front of him before, so he obeyed. She was yelling at HIM. At the man. He was so disturbed that this man was related to him, though he refused to acknowledge it._

_He remembered so much pain. His mother didn't deserve it. What had they ever done to HIM?_

_He remembered when she told him, holding him in her lap, whispering when HE was gone, about the way she fell in love. He remembered making faces when she said they kissed. She would be chuckling softly, "You'll feel differently one day, honey. Someday."_

_He remembered that finally, HE left at night, when she dared HIM to attack. She dared the man to hurt them both while the police was arriving. Growling, HE grabbed whatever HE could, took the car, and scrambled away, falling into the pitch black of the night._

_He remembered the color red. _

Why wouldn't he? It was the color of the devil.

**Jazz here. New story, yay. Again, the main character is Shun.**


	2. Chapter 1: Fame

**I don't own bakugan. **

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks

Ch. 1

"Good job out there today," a sweet voice calmed his heart.

"Thanks, Alice." He moved to peck her on the cheek. She giggled when he hugged her. It was truly amazing how much he had changed when they finally decided to go out.

Dan walked in lazily, Runo shouting furiously behind him. The once tomboy was sporting a pencil skirt, nice ruffled blouse and jewelry to match. A fashion designer did have to keep up with the trends. Julie sauntered in after, laughing merrily with Billy. They were well known newscasters, and pretty popular as a couple.

Marucho walked in. He had grown some, looking more like his age than an eight year old. It could have also been the nice dress shirt…Though still much shorter, he was successful, running his father's branch in Wardington.

"Alice? Do you have any leftovers back there?" Dan asked hungrily. Shun rolled his eyes and went over to the fridge. He pulled out some loin tips to keep his best friend happy.

"Here Dan." Shun shoved the plate into Dan's gloved palms. Even if he was mature, Dan could never possibly grow out of the color red. This was apparent since he was wearing baggy cargos with a red chain hanging from them, a black t-shirt with a red dragon, and a red high collared vest. Dan still wore the goggles that were his trademark, which were of course, blue. What else would they be?

Alice took off the apron, hanging it up and joining her friends out front. The café was now closed. The Misaki's had left Alice the store when they decided to take a trip to see the world, and it had become instantly popular right after bakugan had become a big sport.

Dan and Shun, the famous tag team, were now talking tactics when Alice presented them all with drinks. Shun gave her a smile and thanked her, moving in the booth to allow her to sit next to him. Alice untied her hair to let it loose over her feathery top and capris.

"So, what happened today?"

Dan paused to stuff his face a bit more, "Nothing new. Me and Shun just totally whopped the other teams, but they were good. Man, we need a challenge, right Drago?"

"Daniel, slow down. You'll choke," Drago said.

Runo shook her head at her boyfriend, "Six years. You think that you would have at least some manners after that."

Dan blinked owlishly. "Huh?" he managed around his food.

Julie giggled and leaned into Billy, "Nothing, Dan. It's nothing."

Shun sat quietly as they all conversed happily. Though he was fine, he had a bad feeling. It had started right after that last battle…

_"The winners are Dan and Shun!" the announcer called, crowing proudly into the speaker._

_Dan was cheering, even though he'd won every game since the business had started. Shun stood next to him, waving half-heartedly at all the fans. His eye caught one who wasn't really paying particular attention to either team. The man's head was bowed down, looking at something. _

_Right before Shun's amber pools were about to move on, the said man looked up, as if sensing someone's gaze. Shun gave a sharp intake. That man. He looked too familiar. And not in a good way. In a way that he would like to bury until he died, and beyond even that._

_Shun's thoughts were interrupted by the crowd's shift, covering the man from view. Dan shoved him happily, "Shun! Come on, we're done for today, we can go now!"_

_Shun turned his gaze to his best friend, "You just want loin tips Dan."_

_"So?"_

_Shun rolled his eyes. He'd think about this later._

"Shun?" Alice called, tugging at her boyfriend's shoulder. The nineteen year old had been staring at the window for a while. She was about to tug the lapels of his vest, but he turned around, "Yeah?"

"Is something wrong? You seem out of it."

Shun being a whole head taller than her, he found no problem kissing the top of her hair, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Julie squealed, "Awww…." And then flipped on the blond, "Why don't you do anything like that?" she demanded.

Dan chuckled as Billy groped for words. Runo raised her eyebrow, "Why are you laughing?"

"Come on Runo. I know as well as you that you don't care for that, even if you think it's cute."

She smiled, "You know me too well," she looked at Marucho, "Hey, when's Chie coming back?" she asked their miniature friend. Chie was the girl that he had been dating for a year and a half. She was currently traveling to see her family's branch in South America. It was almost scary how similar she was to Marucho, minus her…eccentrics.

"Hey, Shun, since we have tomorrow off, we don't we all go to the amusement park?" Dan asked his best friend. Shun nodded his head in response, "Sure."

"What about the shop?"

"You can close it for a day Alice."

"Shun-"

Runo cut her best friend off, "My parents aren't going to stop you, Alice. One day won't kill you."

Alice smiled at the reassurance and nodded, "Fine. Let's go."

Billy stood up, "Well, I have to head back. There are some last minute things I have to get ready if I'm coming with you guys."

Julie jumped up from her seat, pushing it in hurriedly. Her shorts jangled with metal buttons as they were hit with her vest zipper. "Here, I'll come with you!"

Marucho shook his head amusedly as he also tucked his chair in, "I better go as well. I don't want to get behind on my work, and I have to video chat with Chie. She'll kill me if I miss." Runo laughed at the mention of a VERY embarrassing memory, just as Dan blushed.

Dan stood there with Shun as Runo and Alice closed up last minute things before they could lock the doors. "What's up, dude? You're usually never this out of it. You didn't even hear Alice."

"It was nothing Dan."

"What were you looking at outside?" Dan tried to remember, "Was it that the brunette? Yeah, she was pretty…" Dan then blinked at Shun's are-you-kidding-me look.

He took in Drago's stare as well, before suddenly waving his arms rapidly, "NOT considering Runo! Runo's always the best! She's the only one for me!"

"Well, I'm glad that you think that way. What did you do now?" Runo said from behind him.

Dan turned back to Shun, "You knew she was there?" Judging by Shun's smirk, "DUDE! Not cool!"

Alice stood up from the lock, "Let's go, guys."

They dropped off Dan at his place. He shut the door quickly so Runo didn't see the piles of clothes littered everywhere. Another thing that hadn't changed about him: his cleanliness. Or, uncleanliness.

Soon enough, they reached the warmth of the girls' home. Runo went in, nodding at Alice as she walked in, giving Shun a quick hug. Alice stood there in front of Shun, "Aren't you going to go inside?" Shun asked.

"What happened today? You're usually so alert."

"Dan said the same thing."

"Shun…"Alice started.

"It's not anything, Alice. Don't worry. Just get ready early so we can go to the amusement park, okay?"

"Yeah Shun. I know."

A nosy neighbor from the next apartment poked his head out, "It's late! Go inside!" he muttered as he moved back in, "Teenagers today….don't know….meaning of time…."

Shun rolled his eyes at the door, before facing Alice who was opening the door to her, Julie's and Runo's apartment. He kissed her chastely, smiling at her.

"Goodnight Shun. See you tomorrow."

"Night Alice." He waited until she shut the door, and then exited the building. He walked along the path to his own place. His Grandfather had left him, surprisingly, several places in his will. He'd sold all of them to Marucho except for the dojo and the top apartment in Wardington.

The man slowly made his way toward the small café. **How quaint. Is this how he spends his days? He's become so lazy. I'm going to enjoy re-teaching him.**

He walked a safe distance away from the young man he was following. He knew about the boy's ninja training. He had gone through the same thing, if not more. The old man had gotten soft if Shun wasn't picking up on him. Then again, he was a world class ninja. **My research is done though. And I have no work to be done, so I can take my time with this. I'll begin the next step of my plan…**

Drifting quietly, he pattered toward the ventus brawler, and disappeared into the dark.

Shun lifted his eyebrow at the unpleasant feeling of dread that was slowly creeping up along the nape of his neck. He let out a breath. All they were doing was going to the park tomorrow. He shook his head to rid himself of the unneeded feeling.

He was being paranoid.

After all, what could go wrong?

**Jazz is back! That is the sole most used line in horror films... I had to put it in there X) So, anyway, I've decided to stick with a weekly update plan. Over the summer during my break, though I couldn't update, I did get to write oodles, so this story is actually pretty much done. YAY! See you all next week :)**


	3. Chapter 2: Amusement

**Sorry that I couldn't update last week, I just got to my computer. Again, I don't own bakugan!**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks

Ch. 2

It was a wonderful day outside, and the group was gladly enjoying it. They were planning on taking full advantage of the day, considering that Dan and Shun had several more battles planned soon.

Marucho and Runo, being a bit more free had no trouble getting out of their schedules, and Julie had been able to twist her producer's arm to let her and Billy go, provided she still finish her work on time.

"Where to first?" Julie asked giddily. It had been a good long time since they had last done this.

Before anyone could respond, they suddenly heard multiple squeals accompanied by a rush of oncoming sneakers and sandals. Amidst the shrieks, they were able to discern words such as love, best, and Shun. Small protests and Dan's name was also heard, but Shun was caught in the middle.

"Sign this!"

"A picture, Shun?"

"You're amazing Shun!"

"Marry me Dan?"

"I love you Shun!"

Dan gave a weak smile as Shun rolled his eyes. He spotted their waiting friends a bit off, and grabbed Dan. He jumped up and out to meet them, a severely surprised best friend in tow. The fans blinked before rapid yells of questions were shout out.

"I hate it when they do that," Runo grit out, "It gets so annoying."

"Hey, come on, you're just jealous that I'm so wanted," Dan grinned.

"Don't get a big head, Dan. As I recall, it was SHUN they wanted, not you."

"Hey!" Dan protested, but before he could get any further, a sudden shout was emitted from the group of fans.

Two girls were now scowling at each other, arguing over who was a better brawler. There were daggers shared between several different members. While they began to create ranks seemingly out of nowhere, the group sped off.

"Thanks."

Shun nodded. Billy gave a snort, "Man, those people need lives. That was absolutely crazy."

"Well, that's what you guys get for being so handsome," Alice said teasingly, pointing at Shun.

"It's not like I asked for it." Alice giggled at her boyfriend's disgruntled look. They kept walking, quickly reaching the amusement park without another interruption. Paying to go inside, they reached the center.

"So, where are we headed first?"

"Coaster!"

"Magic show!"

"Ferris Wheel!"

"Food stand!"

They all looked at Dan, unperturbed by his tenacity of food. "What?"

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

"That was fun!" Dan crowed. Runo's eye was twitching at the sheer horror of the ride.

"Daniel, there is no way I'm getting on that again."

"Why not Drago?"

"That was so freaky! Who does that for a roller coaster ride?" Julie yelled.

Shun looked at his watch, then at the shaking females. "Why don't we head to the Ferris Wheel?" he asked, "It's getting late anyway."

Dan sighed, "Sure. Let's go."

Getting in, Shun settled himself at the edge so he could peer outside. He'd been having this strange feeling again.

The ride started up quickly enough, and they watched as the fireworks began to go off, "Dude, we have perfect timing!" Dan exclaimed.

"Hey, look at that," Marucho pointed out. Their ride had stopped right when they were at the top, so they were able to see the water and the setting sun.

"It's beautiful," Alice breathed.

Dan was looking at Runo, "Yeah, it is." Then suddenly realizing what he was doing, turned back to face the window. Shun raised his shoulders as he snorted, shaking his head at his friend.

As they began their descent, he looked down at the people milling around as the attractions began to close. There was one person that was staring straight at him…It was the man from the battle! He blinked, the only sign of his confusion. That was too much of a coincidence for his liking. The small carriage jerked as they came to a stop. The seven clamored outward, and began moving for the exit.

Shun gave a last once over before following, making sure no one was right behind them. It might have been paranoid, but since he and Dan had become so popular, he had a bad feeling that it would suddenly come to a tragic end.

"We should do this again soon. It was really nice to get away from it all," Julie said stretching.

Alice smiled, "It was nice. We should make more plans like this, whenever we can," she amended, knowing of Shun's busy schedule.

The group continued to talk happily, unaware that this might be the last time they would all spend together.

The man watched as Shun saw him. His face contorted into a slight anger, than a bit paler. Good, he'd seen his face. If he knew the younger, he would deny everything until forced to admit it. It was annoying, but he was also proud of the nineteen year old.

**Now, time to go before he catches me. I better get going. **He couldn't wait to see how all of his friends would react to such a dark past. It was delicious to imagine. **They'll never see it coming.**

**Time for the next chapter! But, don't forget to review!**


	4. Chapter 3: Warning

**Hey, hey...I made it up to all right? Caught up after this and everything...? I don't own bakugan**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks

_**Bold Italics**_is notes

Ch. 3

The next day began as usual.

There was no excitement, except in that one hilarious moment when Dan was too busy to notice where he was going, resulting in him falling straight down a flight of stairs; and Shun standing there, smirking at his thoroughly humiliated friend.

"Shut up," Dan grumbled, "Don't say anything."

"I wasn't going to."

"You were thinking it," Dan retorted.

"Now I'm forbidden from thinking within the realms of my own brain?" Shun asked sarcastically.

Dan, not understanding that it was rhetorical, crossed his arms as the kept walking, "Yes, you are."

"Dan, you are su-" Drago began.

Shun finished for him, "-such a moron."

"Am not!"

"Whatever you say."

Dan continued to grumble as the duo made their way into Interspace. The newly renovated arenas made it possible to simply choose between becoming a spectator or a brawler, as well as payments to observe, just like any other major sport.

The walked into the room where they kept their personal schedules. Dan nudged Shun as they walked past a screen, "Hey, look, some new brawlers. They seem strong."

"You were actually paying attention when we went over the brawler list this time?"

"Shun!"

Drago replied, "You led yourself into that one, Dan."

"Touché."

"You know French?" Shun asked, a bit surprised at Dan.

Dan took the opportunity to take pride in the one word he knew, "Of course! I'm not stupid!"

"So, you've been paying attention when Runo's been teaching you?"

"Duh! Clearly."

"Savez-vous vraiment ce que je dis?" Shun asked in fluent French.

Dan racked his brain for an answer. He suddenly remembered something Runo said and responded proudly, "Je suis un idiot et je ne sais pas ce que je dis," in a somewhat broken tone.

Shun sniggered, "Yeah, you really should pay attention when Runo teaches you something."

"Why? Wait, what did I just say?" Dan called after Shun, "Shun! Aw, come on Shun! Tell me what I said! Come on!"

Shun kept on walking as Dan caught up, neither of them catching the man that thrust himself into a corner as not to be seen.

**That brat is here too, huh? He was annoying then, and he'll be annoying now. But I'll wait and see. He might become useful. I've waited thirteen years; I can wait for a couple more days.**

He disappeared once more into the darkness. Passing a sign, the man was able to get down the times of Shun's battles. How convenient. **Now, how to give him a message? This is tricky, I can't let him too riled, it won't be as fun that way. **It hit the man. Literally.

"Sorry!" the girl squeaked at the handsome face before her.

He gave her a polite smile, "It's quite all right. Don't worry about it." He helped her up.

"Oh, thank you. Sorry again," the young lady was blushing.

"Could you do me one favor?" he asked, still in the façade of a gentleman.

"Well, what is it?"

"Could you deliver a message for me to someone?"

"Um, okay. Who's the person?"

Quickly, the man took out a neatly tied letter and presented to the girl, "Here we go. Give this to Shun, please? He's an…acquaintance of mine. He'll know what it's for."

She bowed, "Sorry again. I'll give this to him as soon as I see him." On the inside, she was jumping with glee. She had just met a man that was very handsome, and now had an excuse to meet Shun!

"Thank you." The man departed, moving toward the machines to exit.

The girl began her way to the room Shun and Dan were given for their partner battles. Her friend joined her on the way, and immediately picked up on the giddiness, "What's up? Why are you so happy?"

"No reason Ter."

"Wait, we can't go this way, it's authorized personnel only."

"I have a reason," the girl singsonged, swaying the ribboned envelope.

Her friend tried to grab it, "Not fair! How'd you get this?"

She shrugged, "Some man, who by the way was so cute, gave it to me to give to Shun. Want to come?"

"Yes!" the other female shouted.

They giggled when they were met with Shun opening the door. "Yes?" he sounded annoyed, and they could hear light snores in the background.

The first girl held out a shaking hand, "Um, this is for you."

"If it's another one of D-" he began muttering.

"Uh, no, someone told me to give it to you. He said he knew you. He didn't tell me his name."

Shun's face placated, "Oh. Thanks for giving it to me."

The second girl replied for the stunned first, "It was no problem," she grabbed her friend, "Come on Alison, let's go."

Shun watched as one girl half dragged the other out. He could hear shrieks when they thought they were far enough away, and something that sounded vaguely like, "OMG! He touched me!"

Shun groaned as he shut the door. He knocked Dan awake, "Come on, we have to go," he said, dropping the letter into a pocket and putting on his vest.

"Five more minutes Mom…" the pyrus brawler mumbled into the couch cushion. Shun rolled his eyes and pushed Dan off the sofa, shocking him into the real world.

"What the heck was that for?" Dan yelled.

"It's time to go."

Dan's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He was suddenly wide awake and yelling at Drago, "Come on buddy, we have to hurry!"

"You're so strange Dan."

Not hearing his bakugan, he continued to run around the room, grabbing his vest, his shoes and a burrito all at once. "Yet you can't do this when Runo comes to pick you up." Shun walked out of the room.

"What?" Dan blinked obliviously.

Drago chuckled, "It's nothing Daniel. Hurry, Shun's waiting."

"Gotcha!" he rushed out, ran back into grab his burrito, and slammed the door as he left again.

After the battle, which proved to be interesting since many new brawlers had risen up after the game had gotten to the professional stage, Dan and Shun walked to the exit. Dan bought a burrito from the little store outside the arena, "Well, that was fun. But now I'm hungry."

Drago flew up to his partner, "Didn't you just eat before the battle?" he asked.

"That was almost an hour ago!"

Shun watched, amused at his friend for being just exactly like he was when he was twelve. He was about to grab his keys since he was done for the day, but he felt something thin in his pocket. The letter popped into his head. He'd forgotten about that. He went to pick it up, unenthused by the ribbon. Only a girl would use ribbon, and that meant that those girls had been lying.

Dan peered over from his second burrito, "Whash zat?" he mumbled.

"Don't know. And, I'm not sure I want to read it. I'll just throw it out when we get home."

"What if it's important?"

"Dan, it's tied with ribbon. If it was important enough, then the people would've handed it to me directly."

Dan thought about that for a moment, then decided not to argue and go back to his food. What harm was there in letting one crazy fangirl's dream be crushed?

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Alice picked up the small ribbon wrapped envelope from the floor. She looked up to see Shun's vest still hanging on the chair, so she rightly assumed it was his. She called toward the kitchen where he was bringing out some dessert for them. He'd bought it on his way over: a yummy miniature cake!

She asked Dan as he walked out with plates and forks, "What's this?"

"A girl handed it to him. She said it was from someone he knew apparently. He hasn't bothered to look at it yet."

"Are you talking about that letter?" Shun questioned as he brought out the cake.

"Oh!" Julie squealed, having been quiet this entire time. Billy had left for a business trip, so she was a bit depressed without her boyfriend. "This looks so delicious!"

Runo nodded, "She's right. That looks awesome!"

Dan stared at the cake as if it was his lifeline. Marucho gave him a glance, and then turned toward Shun, "You should cut it soon before Dan begins to die," he said, raising his eyebrow.

Dan grabbed his slice-which was twice the size of everyone else's-and gobbled it down as quickly as he could. Runo smacked him playfully, "Breathe!"

After a nice-"Can I have more?" SMACK!-peaceful dessert, Julie and Marucho put everything away for Alice. "Hey, can you open that?" Julie asked Shun, gesturing toward the letter.

"Why would I do that?"

"I want to see what it says."

Shun rolled his eyes, "Fine." Alice handed him the envelope. "Thanks."

"Uh-huh."

The five watched as he carefully took off the ribbon, purposely making a big show of the seemingly stupid little paper.

Flipping open the top, he pulled out the thin sheet of paper inside, "You guys realize this is so stupid."

Julie gave a pout, "For all you know, this could be funny! WE would've missed out on a great opportunity."

"You might as well just open it Shun. Dan looks like he really wants to know as well," Drago said from his spot on the table.

He opened the paper before reading through it once. He paused. Alice and Dan were getting a bit curious as to what was making him hesitate. Furrowing his eyebrows, his eyes drifted over the words again, and as they clicked, his dark lashes flew up as his eyes grew a fraction bigger. His lips parted as he gave in a quiet intake of air. He closed up the paper again, "That was so weird."

Runo quirked up her eyebrow, "Can WE see?"

"You want to see a stalker letter?"

Dan's hands slid against the wood as he fell in shock. He'd been trying to reach for the letter when Shun had said the word stalker.

Runo's cheeks flushed, "Um, never mind. I don't really want to know."

Julie gulped, "Me neither…" Though she still did, Shun's posture had told her not to question.

Marucho fixed his glasses, "Do you need to call the police? Stalking is a problem."

"I can handle a crazy fangirl. It's not that big of a deal, don't worry about it."

Dan looked like he wanted to protest, but said nothing, knowing fully of Shun's stubbornness, and how it rivaled his own. Alice, on the other hand, was immediate to challenge her boyfriend, "Shun! How can you not worry? This stalker could be serious!" she exclaimed, sidling up closer to him.

"Alice, it's nothing," he patted her arm, "Plus, I've had worse than a stalker."

They reluctantly let the subject drop, but Alice couldn't help but feel something was wrong. Something Shun wasn't telling them.

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Taking the same route as two nights ago, Shun hurried into his apartment. Looking at the clock, he threw his vest onto the couch. Quickly, he put some tea onto the stove and watched it simmer. He let out a deep sigh. Ruffling his hair, he let his thoughts drift, **This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to be gone for good…** He grabbed the tea and poured it into a cup.

Making his way back into the living room, he turned on the TV to drown out the neighbors. They were arguing again. That couple really needed to get divorced. Better for everyone in the building.

Focusing back on the note, he sipped the tea to calm his nerves. He opened up the letter again. He hadn't let them read it because they would have questioned the strange encryption of the text. Though it was easily understandable grammar wise, the meaning of the words were strange to one who didn't know their underlying meaning.

He read the words again, just to triple check that he had read it right and his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, a result of the recent nightmare.

Groaning, he leaned into the dark green couch. Tilting his head back, he put his hands over his amber eyes, **How could this possibly happen? Why would he choose NOW to come back of all times? It's been thirteen years… **he thought sadly.

The words were now imprinted into his mind:

**_Do you remember the raven?_**

**_The small bird that could never fly,_**

**_Its wings were clipped._**

**_So frail and protected_**

**_By a mother who did not understand?_**

**_The phoenix told it to be careful,_**

**_To listen and learn._**

**_The raven paid no heed,_**

**_And now, the phoenix has risen again._**

Then again, he could be overreacting. If one dug deep enough, they could have found this and simply used it. Reporters did that all the time. He knew it was a big stretch, but better that than the truth.

**No, singsonged and ribboned are not real words. I do have artistic license though, so don't sue…**

**The French they were speaking is: Do you really know what I'm saying? I'm an idiot, and I don't know what I'm saying. **

**Basically, he wasn't paying attention. Ah, Runo…XD Google Translate was how this was possible.**


	5. Chapter 4: Serene

**I don't own bakugan. Sigh...I miss the show.**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks

Ch. 4

Alice felt a bit stiff as she got out of bed. She thought back to the night before. **Shun has been acting a bit strange recently; drifting off, looking behind us, being a bit more sarcastic…** She was worried.

Runo came in, "You alright Alice? You have that really intense thinking face on right now."

"I'm just worried about Shun."

"Don't worry about him! He's a big boy, he can take care of himself. He has been doing that for the past seven years, and he has ninja training!" Julie said, bouncing in as she tried to slip on her socks.

Alice couldn't help but laugh at the sight, "Julie, why don't you sit down and put on your socks?"

"It's easier this way."

"So, jumping up and down, looking like a fool, is easier?" Runo asked sarcastically.

Julie made an irritated pouting sound, but she sat down and pulled up her socks, quickly followed by her shoes. Alice giggled. It was the little moments that really made her life that much better. That, and the fact that she had great friends, a good job, and the best boyfriend in the world.

"Ack!" Julie said, lifting up her head to look at the fluorescent clock, "I've got to go if I want to make it on time." With a wave, she shut the door and they heard another door open and close as their friend left the apartment.

Runo sincerely looked over at Alice, "Seriously Alice. Don't worry, he's fine. He would tell you, or at least Dan if anything was wrong. Calm down, okay?"

"I know." Alice sighed inwardly. She was most likely being paranoid, but she couldn't help herself, it was something she was good at, and being Masquerade has really made her instincts always on high alert. The thoughts slipped away as she began to get ready for the day and head off to the café.

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

The crowd was cheering as Dan finished off the latest challenger. Shun stood next to his giddy best friend, "Dan. You're not ten, calm down."

"Dude! How can you not be excited? We just beat Ace and Spectra!" he jumped.

"Dan, we have Drago."

Dan shook his head, "But we don't use full power remember? The rules limit us specifically to not go beyond any of Neo Dragonoid's abilities."

"That doesn't change the fact that we have Drago, Dan. Regardless of rules, we were going to win because of power."

Dan pouted, "Don't take the fun out of it! Now I can't gloat without feeling guilty."

Shun smirked, glancing at Ace, who was giving him a thumbs up and a mouthed 'thank you'. "That's the point," he said, just softly enough so Dan couldn't pick it up.

Drago however, caught on, "You're sneaky Shun."

Dan looked between his bakugan and his friend, "What? What are you guys talking about?" he questioned, utterly out of the loop.

"Never mind Dan. Why don't we go meet up with them?" Shun asked, diverting his absent-minded friend's attention back to their opponents. Ace and Spectra were easily the second top team, ranking at fourth and third respectively.

"Hey Ace! 'Sup Spectra?" Dan asked happily when they met up outside the battlefield.

"Hey Dan, hotshot," Ace answered calmly. He still called Shun hot-shot, his excuse being that 'it fit too well to let it go'.

"Ace," Shun responded.

"What's new on Vestal?" Dan asked.

"Nothing. Mira's become a top scientist for organic bakugan research," Spectra answered.

"What about here?" Ace asked.

Shun shook his head, "Nothing new."

Dan cocked his head, "That's not true!" he turned to Ace and Spectra, "Shun here has a stalker." Dan grinned, amused at his friend's irritation for bringing it back up.

Spectra raised an eyebrow behind his hair, "A stalker?"

"This is what you get for being so popular Shun," Ace sniggered.

Shun's eye twitched lightly. He had been trying to get that letter out of his head for hours now, and Dan brought it right back up. True, he didn't know WHY Shun hated the letter, but still.

Though it was much too long for Shun, Ace and Spectra headed back to Vestal soon enough. "Why would you tell them that?" Shun asked lightly, careful not to let the anger spill forth into his smooth voice.

"It's funny," Dan defended, "I'm sorry that I told them, but it's only a stalker. For you, that's not a problem. Plus, they were your words."

Shun groaned. He hated it when Dan decided to act smart.

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Julie walked briskly along the sidewalk towards the café. She looked over at the boutique she was passing, and saw one of Runo's designs. "Cute..." Julie said, "Man, I taught her so well."

She felt herself crash against a broad chest and looked up into a pair of beautiful eyes. They were the oddest grayish-blue mix, and seemed to swirl amidst themselves. Stepping back she said, "Oh, I'm so sorry mister."

"It's alright." The man had a very deep, honey voice that seemed to simply roll off the tongue. "I wasn't paying attention either."

Julie blinked. He looked familiar. It clicked, he'd been at the park! He had been walking past them, glancing at Alice.

"Um, I'm sorry, but that one girl you were staring at the other day…She's a bit young for you."

The man blinked, "Pardon?" he asked.

"At the park," Julie clarified.

He chuckled, "You mean the redhead? I just thought it was someone I knew. I was wondering why she would be hanging out with people so much younger than herself. After I saw her face, I realized it wasn't. From the back though, they looked identical."

Julie blushed crimson. **I just accused someone of being a pedophile… **"Um, sorry again… I'll, er, bye."

The man smiled at her before moving on. His lips fell into irritation as he moved further away from the silver haired girl. **What an injudicious girl. Is Shun really friends with these kinds of people? Hm, he'll need more lessons than I thought. **

The man disappeared into the crowd, still thinking about the girl he had just met. And what it meant for the boy she was friends with.

Soon enough, Julie found her way to the café, but found that it was still open, and had several customers still in it. But, even better, everyone was already there. "Hey guys!"

"Julie, you're late," Runo said teasingly.

"Am not, Shun's still not here."

Even Marucho looked amused, "Actually, Julie, he is." He pointed in the vague direction of a bit further down. The shop has been renovated when the Misaki's left because as soon as everyone found out that ALICE would be in charge, clientele exploded. Now, it was more of a modern diner than a small little coffee shop.

Julie craned her neck, and spotted the black hair. Following that gaze, she found herself snickering at Shun. He was helping Alice out with the longer shift, and had been forced into a waiter's outfit. **The things that Alice can get him to do! **Julie thought.

Shun walked over to the counter as they all watched. "Alice, I'm done."

Alice giggled, "All the girls get enough?" she asked teasingly.

"Hey," Shun said, smirking, "That's mean. It's like you want your boyfriend to be thrown to the dogs."

"Thanks for helping Shun." She pecked his cheek.

"No problem."

He walked over to the booth with no problem, now that there were only a handful of customers still in the place. "Don't say anything, Dan."

"Not going to." But, Dan was grinning.

Julie glanced outside and spotted a familiar head, "Hey, that's the guy I bumped into today!" she exclaimed, "Hey, Alice. Apparently, you look like someone he knows."

They all looked up at the man who was on the opposite side of the street, seemingly oblivious of his watchers. Shun's face paled, but this went unnoticed by the group. Runo looked at the man as he kept on walking, "He looks handsome."

Dan tilted his head, "Hey…Shun…" he looked towards his best friend. "Doesn't he look kinda familiar to you?"

Shun shook his head, "No."

"Really? Hm, I feel like I've met him before."

**How can Dan decide NOW of all times to remember…Someone's out to get me…**Shun thought, sighing on the inside. **Why would he be back? Mom's gone, and so's Grandpa. It's not like Grandpa was actually okay with his son after what happened. He's got nothing here.**

Alice glanced at her boyfriend while the other four were discussing about Runo's new fashion line. Dan thought that it needed more belts-and red-to work. You could never have too much red. Alice quietly prodded Shun, "Are you okay?" she asked.

Shun turned his head to look at her and shook his mane of jet black, "It's nothing."

She believed what he said, thinking back to Runo's conversation with her in the morning. What could he have to hide from her?

**Jazz here. I know, I know, it seems pointless and slow, but just wait for it. It gets really good soon! Thanks so much you all!**


	6. Chapter 5: Friend

**I don't own bakugan. Yay. Yes, I know I'm late, and I'm sorry.**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks

Ch. 5

Shun was really fixed on finishing the battles as soon as possible. His single battles were completed at rates that made many stare in absolute shock. The announcer was having a hard time keeping up, and had just resigned to keeping a recording of "Winner, Shun Kazami!" going.

Dan grabbed the roughly breathing ninja, "Are you alright Shun? You're acting a bit too intensely. A lot of these guys are just beginners."

"I'm fine Dan."

"Shun, what's up? You've been totally caught up in it today, and that's not like you."

Shun shook off Dan's hand, "I'm fine. Don't worry. We better hurry, the next battle's starting soon." He walked away from his friend, getting prepared for the next round. They were tag-teaming the next battle, but he wanted this over with soon.

He thought back to last night, after they had parted ways.

_He took the route he'd seen the man take, hoping to catch up to him. He needed to know if it was the same person. He walked quickly past the few out, knowing this was a more secluded road. As he continued, he realized that, soon enough, he was the only one still left on the small street._

_"He can't possibly have come back. I don't know what I was thinking," Shun said to himself. He turned to walk back to his apartment. He picked up a bit of rustling with his ears, but continued as if he'd heard nothing. _

_Now a bit suspicious, Shun stood in the middle of the sidewalk, and closed his eyes. Feeling the breeze around him, he felt no discrepancies. He opened his eyes, now calm. He began to pick up his pace again. "I'm being paranoid."_

_Furrowing his eyebrows at the darker road down the way, he realized that indeed, someone was standing there. "Who are y-"_

_"You know exactly who I am Shun," the person responded, stepping closer revealing a face he never wanted to see again._

_Shun tried to deny it, "You're the man that walked past the café today."_

_"Don't even try Shun. You know who I am."_

_"You're not him, there's no way you can be."_

_The man was twirling a piece of his hair, reminding Shun of Hydron. "I came back to get back what's rightly mine Shun. You and your mother deserved what you two got."_

_Shun lost all pretense of his cool poise, "We never did anything to you!"_

_"I don't need to explain it to you," the man sneered, marring his good features, "Just that, now, I'm here to finish up the job."_

_"Try to, you mean. There's no way I'm going back to that life."_

_"You need to learn respect Shun. Those supposed friends and the fame have gone to your head. And that little slut that you hang around."_

_Shun's amber eyes flared, "Don't talk about them like that!" Then he registered, "Wait. You bumped into Julie on purpose, didn't you? You've been watching me…"_

_The man did not deny the words that hung in the air. He instead gave a look of mock hurt, "Am I now not allowed to check in on my own son?"_

Shun shook his head to clear it. He had to focus on the battle. "Shun. Man, you sure you're alright?" Dan asked just as they entered the arena. The crowd let loose fabulous cheers.

Usually, Shun would be irritated by the fact that these people didn't do anything but sit and cheer and yell out untrue love proclamations. **And proposals…** But despite how noisy it was, Shun was glad for the distraction.

"Yeah, I'm just fine. Let's go." He walked out, confident as ever. He couldn't let Dan know what had occurred last night. He was fine overall, considering that he slept fine and was still prepared to battle, as well as being able to put up with Dan's overzealous displays.

Though Dan prolonged the battle a bit to get in his fun factor, they finished relatively quickly. It turned out that the team they were facing had been against very easy players to earn such high points and ranking.

Dan was happily chattering on about the new place that he was going to take Runo to later this week, so Shun tuned him out. The ninja thought back on what Dan had said. He said he knew his father. He'd only met him briefly, because he visited when his father was at 'work'. He didn't know what his father did, and didn't care. Shun thought back onto that time as well.

_The doorbell rang. Shun's father looked up, and then back at Shun, "Do you know who it is?" he asked dangerously._

_The little boy of six years said nothing, turning his head away from his father. The stubborn little child refused to let himself give in._

_The man grinned, "Well, it's your friend, the brat Dan."_

_Shun's startled eyes flew back to gaze at his father's. "Ah, now I have your interest, don't I?" he asked. "You better behave Shun, or else your friend will get to see what happens when children come unannounced."_

_Shun couldn't bear the thought of Dan getting hurt. He was too innocent, and he didn't deserve that, "I'll be good. Just don't hurt him. Promise."_

_"We'll see Shun. We will finish this discussion later." They both knew what a discussion meant. With his mother currently in the hospital, his father was free to do as he pleased. _

"Shun? Were you even listening to me?" Dan asked.

"Dan, I can hear everything. I'm just choosing not to respond."

"Prove it."

"You were asking me what to get Runo for your date on Friday."

Dan gave me a look, "How do you do that?" he questioned.

"What?"

Drago answered, "Listen and daydream at the same time."

"I was not-"

"Shun, I've known you for seventeen years! I know when you zone out," he paused, "But, the only times you zone out is if something's bad going on. Anything wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Dan. Just thinking."

"About…" Dan trailed off.

Shun covered up, "We haven't had any world crises in a while. I'm wondering how long that will last."

"Don't jinx that."

"I thought you liked being a hero," Shun teased, thankful that he averted Dan's attention.

"I do, but I don't need another issue for a long time. I'm done."

"Good. I was getting sick of seeing you go all guilt-freak on us."

"Guilt-freak?" Dan exclaimed, furious.

Shun just smirked at his friend and continued onward, completely ignoring Dan's protests. Though he got irritating sometimes, and he was all too oblivious and a bit stupid, he was a good person to talk to, whether he knew it or not.

Even if he'd been vulnerable then, it was different now. He had much more to live for.

**Hey, Jazz here. So...I got a little more friendship in there :) Tell me the truth, totally sucks, right? But hey, we're getting there!**


	7. Chapter 6: Ready

**I don't own bakugan. hey, what's new my dear readers? nothing on my end really. Yeah, it's a short chapter, I know...**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks

Ch. 6

**That one meeting was a coincidence**, Shun decided. After the night when his dad had revealed himself, there was absolutely no sign of him. In a usual case, that would have made him nervous. His father was different. He was not a person who planned, but rather just carried out something whenever he felt like it.

If it was taking this long, there was no chance he'd be able to get to him. **But, people do change… **

There was no point dwelling on the past. If he had any prayer of making through his battles today, he had to focus. Dan was beginning to drive him a little crazy.

Forgetting about his father, he let bakugan take over. It was time to battle.

"Bakugan stand!"

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Running through the woods, he picked up his pace. His ninja training had never been that big on his list, but after the brawlers had come into his life, it had become even less. Recently, about a year ago, he'd begun to pick it up again, but it was still only used in bakugan and the occasional joke on Dan.

Leaping the trees gave Shun a sense of calm. Tonight, the forest was especially nice, with all the trees gently blowing in the breeze. He closed his eyes and landed, sighing deeply in satisfaction.

A slow clap started up behind him. He turned and opened his eyes, trying to pick out a human shadow in the dark. The clapping began to pick up speed, and finally when it came to an abrupt stop, its owner came out. "Nicely done Shun."

Shun's eyes narrowed, and he growled, "What do you want?"

"I just came to see how your training has been going," he said, mocking the word training. Slowly, he walked forward to his son. "The old man didn't teach you much, did he? He gave you too much freedom, and now, you'll regret it."

Ryu lashed out suddenly, but Shun was quick to catch his hand. "Good. You at least know the basics."

Shun hissed, "I've learned much more than that!" he jumped up onto a tree. If his father was going to insist on him 'learning a lesson', he was going to show him just how much he'd changed. This battle would be on his terms.

Every step was a dangerous dance. Back and forth, attack after another. Though Shun was quick, his father was quicker. All too soon, Shun's back was feeling the ache of hard bark pressing against it. His father pressed his fist against Shun's ribs, producing a groan from the ventus brawler. "You didn't learn well enough Shun."

Shun glared at his father, refusing to say anything to the man.

"The silent treatment? Alright, suit yourself. Besides, we'll have plenty of other opportunities later."

"There isn't going to be a later. I'm not six anymore Ryu. I won't bow down to everything you say."

Ryu dug in deeper, "Finally, I got something out of you. It's good to know that you can still talk Shun." The older Kazami was not going to let his son get the better of him. "Still, it's much too lippy for my taste. Looks like I didn't beat it into you hard enough."

Shun's eyes tightened, and he took a deep breath. Gritting his teeth, he knocked his father's feet away. It was enough to open a few seconds for the brawler. He grabbed the fist that was pushing into his ribs and twisted it. Ryu landed on the ground, hard.

The ventus brawler jumped up onto the tree branch. Standing up and facing his father, who was now on his feet, he said sharply, "Not this time. I'm not playing your game ever again Ryu. Leave me alone while you still have a chance."

With that, Shun left the forest.

Ryu watched silently. He grinned madly, "This just got a whole lot better. It would have been very unentertaining to see him give in so soon. I do have time to spare."

Back in town, Shun made his way into Interspace. It was open 24/7-well, besides Christmas and New Years- and he could use a battle to cool off. Making a quick pit-stop in their private meeting room, he made his way to the fields.

Yes, the battles were extremely easy, even when he was this unfocused. Yes, he could have done something more productive with his time. Yes, there were other ways to let out frustrations. For Shun, he had to get ready. He knew his father wouldn't let him get away so easily.

But he wasn't going to back down anytime soon.

**Jazz here. So, what did you all think?**

**On a completely different note, I was watching a show, the series finale, it was going great. They were doing what they needed to, and suddenly, not fine at all. One of my favorite characters (there are like 40 characters on the show) died saving everyone else. He was actually not even supposed to be there. He and his girlfriend were supposed to be in college, this part of life behind them...**

**It was so sad. And then, his best friend (another one of my favorite characters) left because of his death. It was SOOOO SAAADDDD.**


	8. Chapter 7: Knife

**I don't own bakugan.**

**Bold** is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks

_**Bold Italics**_is notes

Ch. 7

"Shun? Are you alright?" Alice asked softly.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You haven't jibed at Dan at all so far," Marucho answered.

Shun looked at Dan's expression, "It's become too easy."

Runo grinned, "That sounds like Shun."

Truthfully, Shun's day had been anything but fun. After an all-nighter, several battles that he had forgotten about, and Dan's sudden need for dragging his best friend through seven stores to find a gift for Runo's and his first date anniversary, he was worn pretty thin. **Of course, no one knew about me being out all night… **

Marucho peered at his friend, "You look tired Shun."

"I'm fine."

"Really?" Julie's voice interjected, "You don't look it. I mean, you're usually pretty good about keeping yourself on schedule. Your eyes look a little different today."

"I'm fine."

"Alright," Dan interjected, "He's good. Leave him alone."

After the usual sit together and talk, Shun found himself on the familiar pathway to his apartment. He was a bit more cautious now, knowing his father wouldn't stay quiet for long. It was a very starry night, full of fresh breezes and glimmering jewels in the air. The ventus brawler focused on the sky as he walked.

Just out of thin air, he felt a hand come in contact with his shoulder. Turning around, he saw a man that looked about his late twenties. "What?" he asked, his voice a bit bristled.

"I was just wondering why you looked so familiar. You're Shun Kazami, aren't you?"

"Yes." He lowered his guard. He could easily outmatch this man. There was no reason to fear him. Unbeknownst to him, his father crept up easily behind him. Ryu quickly attached the small custom mask to his son's face.

Shun was surprised, but kept his ground by not breathing in the fumes. He tried to push away the hand holding the white mask in place, but was stopped by the breath that suddenly tickled his ear.

The young man watched as Ryu whispered something into Shun's ear. There was an audible sound of air being sucked in, and then he saw the nineteen year old succumb to the chloroform.

"Is he really related to you Akiro?"

"Yes, he is Mamoru. Thanks for the help," Ryu muttered. The younger nodded, and continued along the road as if he hadn't seen anything.

Ryu snorted as he picked up his son, spotting a box right next the jacket. He opened the top, "Little brat." But, he pocketed the small container.

"What a lightweight…" he commented as he walked off with his son over his shoulder, as if it were any other night.

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

When the ventus brawler woke up, he knew he was in the dojo. Ryu would want a place far away from people.

His arms were tied roughly to the chair, and his legs bound just as tight. His father walked back in, a smile on his face, "Finally, you're awake. I was beginning to get bored, little raven."

Regardless of his position, Shun spat out, "Don't call me that. That was mom's nickname for me."

"Hmm," Ryu began, "You need to learn some manners Shun. I didn't raise my son to be so pretentious!" he said mockingly. He moved over to a table on the side. Shun wasn't sure what was on it, but he was sure he wouldn't like it.

"You didn't raise me at all! You were a b*stard who got away from the police!"

"Ah, ah, language. Let's not be rude now. I have the upper hand here Shun."

Shun decided his best bet would be to keep his dad talking, "Why did you come back anyway? Mom and Grandpa are both gone."

"Since I have time, why not? But, if you want to know, I'll grace you with the story," Ryu picked up something from the table. He flicked it, creating a harmonious 'clink'.

"So, after I left Japan, I traveled for quite a bit. I decided to settle down in America. I got myself a name pretty quickly. Do you want to guess as what?" he asked Shun, facing him again after putting the object down.

"No."

"Well, it was as an assassin. It was quite easy you know. Kill a couple people, walk away. Easy money, little raven. My father's teachings made it so much simpler to sneak away undetected."

Shun growled in disgust, "Why am I not surprised?"

Ryu chuckled, "Of course you would assume that. Anyway, I traveled around the world. Nowhere near Japan of course. Let's time skip. About six years ago, I see this world wide newscast. A bunch of kids trying to save the world! How ridiculous!" he laughed.

Shun stared. **He's known for six years…**

"I see this one kid. About thirteen looking, long black hair and gold eyes. I think, 'hmm, he seems familiar'. But, I let it go. He's just a stupid brat who saved the world. It'll blow over in a couple weeks."

Shun still says nothing. Ryu flips another shiny object into the air and catches it with ease. "But enough about that," he smiles again. "Let's go to about a year ago."

Shun's thoughts were scrambling to keep up. About a year ago… that meant around the time bakugan became extremely popular.

"There was this new sport. Really famous with the kids and young adults. All in this place called 'Interspace'. So, I'm in this bar in South Korea after a really big pay-off. Killed a governor, you see," he leered.

"And then, on the TV, comes a commercial, catches my eye. So, I keep watching. After that, the program comes back on, and there's this one girl on TV. She's pretty young to be on TV as a newscaster. Says her name's Julie. She's going to be covering a battle in bakugan."

Shun remembered that day well. There weren't many days that Julie came to cover. He knew what was coming next, but he said nothing at all.

"I'm about to turn away when two boys come onto the screen. Apparently they just won. One has wild brown hair, and he's jumping up and down like a little kid. The other one, I realize is the same kid from five years ago. He cut his hair though. Still, I'm not interested and I could go somewhere else anyway."

Shun's eyes narrowed, "Are you done?"

"Almost. Then, Julie, that newscaster, says their names and I freeze. Dan Kuso sounds really familiar. The next name is what catches my attention though."

Ryu fingers the edge of the table, then turns back to face his son, "Shun Kazami. I'm like, 'Wow, so this is what my son has been doing.' After that, I come back to Japan. A special job."

He looked at a third piece on the wood, "Everywhere, I saw some sign of you. It was disgusting. All these girls chasing you. Your stupid little cool attitude. The laid-back lifestyle. I knew that you'd forgotten about all those lessons years ago. I was free, so why not? It looked like you could use some reteaching."

Ryu finally picked up an object and walked towards Shun. "And so, here we are Shun."

"It's amazing. I was a drunk, and now I'm a high-paid killer. And you're stuck in the middle." He turned the knife in his hand with practiced comfort. Shun caught a glimpse of the handle. It was ornate, a beautiful design, but he could see the hints of red that mingled in the purposefully rusted color.

Ryu quick hand drove the blade towards Shun's shoulder. He clawed at the skin just above the collarbone. Shun jerked backward. He hissed at the knife driving in.

The older man grinned a terrible smile, "So, the wound never really healed, did it?" Shun's head turning was enough of an answer.

_Shun sat there, silent. His father had just gotten home, and he had not been in a very pleasant mood. To relax himself, he'd decided that it would be sufficient to 'teach' his son some more._

_After an hour, he was finally finished. That was where Shun sat now, completely beaten, but still refusing to lie down and beg. Ryu looked at his son's defiant eyes and growled. "You need to learn respect! When someone speaks to you, you do not look at them like that!"_

_Ryu gripped Shun's shoulder hard, letting the nails dig into the sensitive spot near his neck. At the age of five, he was pretty skilled in hiding emotion. But now, he desperately tried to pull himself from his father's increasing hold. _

_Finally, he let go, allowing Shun to sink back to the ground, clutching eagerly at the spot. The little hand was straining to staunch the blood that seeped from the deep cut. Ryu looked at him with disgust, "Look at the mess you've made. Now, I've got to clean myself up again."_

Pulling the weapon from his son's shoulder, he smirked at the satisfactory groan it had created. "What does any of this have to do with me?" Shun asked. "I never did anything to you."

"I shouldn't have to explain to you, little raven. I had to change my name because of you," Ryu spat back.

"That wasn't my fault."

Ryu looked at the wound, "For tonight, we're done."

"As if," Shun said. "I'm not going back to that life Ryu."

Ryu grinned. He pulled off the arm restraints and moved back. He walked out of the room. Shun undid the ropes on his ankles quickly enough, though the cut was beginning to ache severely. He walked slowly out of the room. There was no reason for his father to leave him be. Why had he even let him go?

On the wall of the dojo were deep letters. Some had red abrasions, which Shun guessed were because of the knife. It made him a bit sick to see his blood on the wall.

_**I guess we'll have to change that.**_

_**Let the Games begin.**_

_**After all, I'm not much for losing, am I, little raven?**_


	9. Chapter 8: Moonlighting

**I Don't Own Bakugan!**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Ch. 8

The next day, Shun walked over to Dan's place like he didn't have thick bandages wrapped around his left shoulder. He was currently waiting for Dan to get ready, and thanking his stars for it having been the shoulder not required to throw a bakugan.

"Dan! Hurry up!"

"I'm coming Shun! You got here earlier than usual!"

Shun stared at his friend, who was currently running around trying to find his second shoe with a bagel stuffed in his mouth. "Dan, I always get here at seven-thirty."

"We'fy?" Dan stopped, staring at his friend.

Drago looked up, "Yes, really."

Dan swallowed the last of his bagel, "Help me find my other shoe!"

"That's what you've been looking for?" Shun asked.

Dan held up the one he was holding, "That's kind of why I'm holding the other one in my hand."

"I thought that was just you being you. The other one's on your foot."

"No, it is n- Oh, it is."

There were just so many things going through the ventus brawler's mind…"I'm going Dan."

"Wait up!" cried Dan. He hurriedly shut his front door and ran down the steps to try and beat Shun to the lobby.

"Did you ever think about just cleaning your house up?" Shun asked, next to the stairwell.

Dan walked past, "Why would I do that?"

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

The duo was now sitting in a café within Interspace, and Shun was waiting for Dan to finish eating. Shun looked up at the TV. It was turned on to the news. Shun watched the monitor, and was exceedingly taken aback when Marucho's face appeared on the screen.

"Dan!" he said, "Look at the TV, now."

Dan raised his head lazily, and almost spat out the milkshake he was drinking, "That's Marucho!"

"No, really?" Shun said sarcastically. "They said he was shot at. I'm calling him, okay?"

After the third ring, their friend picked up. Even before the older could say anything, Marucho answered, "Shun, I'm fine. Yes, I was shot at, but nothing hit me. No one was injured, besides a couple of scrapes. They couldn't find the shooter though."

"It's good you're alright buddy!" Dan said, now going back to eating.

"See you later Marucho," Shun said, and shut off the phone.

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

"So, they didn't catch the guy who shot at you?" Julie asked.

Marucho shook his head, "He was gone before they even figured out where he was shooting from. But they found the letter A next to the marked spot. They're not sure what it means, but they told me to be careful for a while."

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Just as four days passed, and the shooting was beginning to leave their minds, another act brought forth more fear and relief. Dan left for the day, to make Runo was alright. Apparently, she'd been pushed off the stage during rehearsal.

For some reason, no one saw who had done it, and luckily, the bluenette wasn't injured since a stage crew worker had caught her. Rather than scared, Dan found her angry.

Dan relayed to Shun, "She's fine. She's actually really mad."

"Why?"

"You know how this fashion show is called the 'Crystal Collection'? The huge sign outside took her two weeks to make. Well, some person thought it would be funny to write over the C's with huge spray painted K's."

"At least she's okay."

"That's true."

But, the incidents stayed out of their minds. Soon enough, it was Julie's turn. A spotlight almost fell on her. She had jumped out of the way just in time, thanks to a timely warning. On an unrelated note, when Julie went to her dressing room, she found it taped down the center, as well as the top and bottom, resembling an 'I'.

After that, days passed before Dan was also targeted. By a hot dog cart. Shun, after he got over the initial surprise, teased Dan, "Maybe this is an omen Dan. I think the gods are trying to tell you not to eat so much."

Drago had a hearty laugh at that one.

A week passed after the hotdog incident, and the group was calm once again. However, this didn't last long.

"Alice, are you okay?" Shun asked as he walked into the little diner.

Alice came around the counter. The store was closed, so there was no problem of her not being there for customers. "Yeah, I'm fine." He hugged her, not letting her see the wince at the movement to his shoulder.

"You sure?" he looked at her face, and saw a small bruise just under her jaw, "You're so lucky."

"I know. I don't even get what happened. One minute, I'm walking, the next a car zooms past me. I'm glad I dropped my purse and rushed back."

"That was lucky."

Alice smiled, "I got my purse back too. A little kid gave it to me. He stuck a round sticker on it though."

Shun was getting a bit worried. His friend's let their incidents go, but he couldn't. **Marucho was shot at, Runo was pushed off the stage, Julie was almost crushed by a spotlight, Dan almost hit by a hotdog cart and Alice was almost run over. True, one of the five was an accident… Still, I don't like it.**

The rest of the hour went by quickly. At Alice's house, he stopped here before she went in, and gave her an extra quick kiss.

She giggled, "I should get into accidents more often," she said teasingly. Shun rolled his eyes, but he was grinning.

On his way to his apartment, he went over the incidents in his head. His head shot up when he realized that every incident had a letter attached to it.

Marucho had an A

Runo had a K

Julie had an I

Alice had an O

He thought back to Dan. He remembered the weird letter that Dan had gotten, just the day after. It only had one letter on it. R.

AKIRO

Shun slowed down his pace to try and focus his thoughts. **Where have I heard that before? Why does that name sound so familiar?** He froze in the middle of the street. He turned in the opposite direction of his place and rushed to the place he told his father he wouldn't ever return to.

"_Is he really related to you Akiro?"_

"_Yes, he is Mamoru."_

He reached the dojo quick enough. He called out his father, waiting for the man to show up. He needed to have words with this man. Soon enough, Ryu showed up with his weapons on his back and a placated smile.

"Oh, you came back. I was beginning to wonder if I had to up the ante." His smile was still placed on his face, but his eyes gave away the malice within.

Shun stood his ground, "So you are the b*stard that's been doing everything to my friends!"

"Of course. I do have my own associates that owe me favors. Except for your friend Daniel. That was just pure coincidence," Ryu's face morphed into questioning before coming back to its usual.

"Leave them out of this Ryu!" Shun yelled. His father stood up on the tree-branch where he had been perching.

Ryu landed in front of his son, "Why should I? They are a part of the reason you've become so laid-back aren't they?"

"They have nothing to do with this!"

"I'll make you a deal, little raven. I'll leave them alone. For a small price."

"What price?"

"All you have to do is listen to me."

"As in?" Shun already knew the consequences that were coming up. He's been through them for three years.

"You'll come back here, rather than that apartment of yours after each night. You will go home each night when I say you can. You'll do as I say, or beware the consequences."

"I told you I wasn't going back to that life. There's no way."

"And I told you that I would change that. Do you care for your friends or not?"

Shun's hands curled, "Why bring them into it?"

"Because you've had a protective streak since you were little. The only reason you ever agreed to the lessons were because that little brat Dan was in danger."

Shun paused. His father was right. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for those five.

"So, do we have an agreement?" Ryu's smile was creepy in the night, reflecting all of the memories that were rising up at once. Shun gave a deep sigh, resigned. He closed his eyes.

"Good."

Shun looked at the moon before following his father into the dojo. He savored it, knowing now, this was his last night of freedom.

**jazz here :) *Rereads story* Yeah...I need help XD**


	10. Chapter 9: Lucky

**I don't own bakugan. Ah, well, it explains so much...**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks

Ch. 9

On the outside, he was giving up and letting his father take him back to when he was little. On the inside, his carefully calculating mind was trying to figure out just when he could attack back without the chance of his friends being hurt as well.

**There's not a chance. I'm not going to let him get away with this that easily. I just have to keep going with this until I can figure something out. **It was a daily mantra, a thought cycle that kept repeating itself regardless of the time that began to pass. A day, turned into two, which turned into a week.

It was a sequence of the same steps every day. Get up, get to the battles, go to the café, head to the dojo, go home, and start over again. Every passing hour was spent doing something.

Those four or five hours every day at the dojo were spent in hell, and then he would trudge home to try and gain some resemblance of sleep.

Shun refused to let it get to him. Ryu may have won the battle, but he would not win the war.

He was now practicing some old skills in the darker part of the park. He knew that he should head over to the café soon, but he had to maximize any chances he had. It was nice since keeping himself busy kept his mind off of what was waiting for him every single night.

In mid-jump, he saw Dan looking around. The younger was looking at the forest with a curious look on his face, "Do you think he went in here Drago?"

"Most likely." Drago HAD seen Shun, but chose to remain quiet. It was always interesting to see what reaction he'd get from his best friend.

"You're slow."

Dan jumped and turned around, "Who?" he yelled. Spotting Shun, he relaxed.

His friend smirked, "That's your battle pose? Very smooth Dan."

"Shut up Shun. We can't all be ninjas."

Shun opened his mouth, but Dan walked past him, hunched over, "Don't say anything." The ventus brawler grinned before following.

"So, why are you practicing?" Dan asked.

"Do I need a reason to?" came the dry question.

"Well, no. but, you usually have a reason. Speaking of reasons, you've been battling super hard lately. You usually never play so fast. You're always taking your time with everything. Something up?"

"Again, no."

"But-"

Shun opened the door to the café, "Coming?"

Dan hurried to walk in. The battles slipped out of the food-loving brawler's mind as soon as he hit the booth seat next to his girlfriend. "Hey Runo," he stated cheerily.

"Dan," she said. She pecked his cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"I'm so proud of you Dan. You actually came in and DIDN'T yell for food." Runo was smiling like she was about to laugh, but it was a smile all the same.

Shun looked at the group. They were super lively and talking amongst each other. **He just had to come back and threaten this, didn't he? He's not getting anywhere near my friends. Not while I'm still alive…**

Alice placed a tray of cake slices on the table and slid in next to Shun. She passed around the tea cups and poured some into each little glass. Sliding it over to Shun, she sat down.

"Sorry about this guys," she said, gesturing to her being. There were small smudges of dust and flour all over her clothes as well as in her hair, and she was still wearing her apron. "It took a while to make the cake."

Runo waved off her apology, "Oh, it doesn't matter Alice, you look fine." Her smile became mischievous, "I think Shun likes you better this way anyway."

Before the ninja could retort, Julie took a bite, and squealed, "This is delicious! I love it!"

"It's really good," Marucho agreed.

Shun glanced at the cake, and smiled. "You made zest cake."

"Well, it's your favorite isn't it?" she asked, leaning into him.

There was no way he was giving any of this up. Ryu was going to be seriously surprised. There was no way Shun was going down without a fight.

He pulled her closer subtly, and put his head on hers. She pouted cutely, "It's not fair that you're this much taller than me Shun."

Runo giggled, "Alice, a lot of things about Shun aren't fair."

"That's so true," Dan nodded. From there, the group's conversation took off.

In the din, Shun whispered so only Alice could hear him. "I'm lucky to have you, you know that?" he asked. **Ryu, I'm going to protect these people even if I die. Get ready.**

**Jazz here! I know, I'm late, but also, now you don't have to wait as long for the next update :) When I'm on break, I go nowhere near my computer because I'm constantly on it when at school. My bad, you guys. See you all soon!**


	11. Chapter 10: Lies

**I don't own bakugan. Sadly...I hope you enjoy!**

**Bold** is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Ch. 10

"Shun?" Alice asked, now worried at her boyfriend's behavior. "Is something wrong?" she questioned. **His eyes have bruises under them. I don't think he's been sleeping.**

"I'm fine Alice, don't worry about it." He pulled her hands from his face, "Need any help?"

"No," she smiled, "I think I've got it. But where's Dan?"

The ventus brawler rolled his eyes, "He rushed off to get an apology gift after yesterday."

"Oh," Alice giggled, "That makes sense."

"Hey," he kissed her cheek, "since we're not meeting today, do you want to go somewhere Alice?"

"Well, I have to clean the shop today," she started.

Shun shook his head, "I'm helping Alice."

"But, you don't h-"

He stepped closer to her, "I want to."

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Alice sat down, holding a cold can of soda, "Well, that was a lot more fun than usual."

"I like to think I'm more fun to be around than a couple of mops and brooms."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Shun…"

He sat down across from her, slipping into the seat. Though he was still being quiet and very cool-headed, he just seemed…different to her.

She watched as he propped up his head on his hand, which he never did. They were just little things, but they were beginning to add up. His eyes seemed tired, and he never wore his vest anymore, choosing a long sleeved jacket instead. His jibes didn't have the same joking sting they always did.

Shun was looking out the window into the silent night. He still had about twenty minutes before he had to leave, and he wanted to enjoy them. There was suddenly pressure against his empty cheek and he turned around to see aluminum.

Alice sat back down, "Are you alright Shun? You've been staring outside for some time now."

"I'm fine, Alice." He checked his watch. Slowly he got up and stretched before pausing, as if something was wrong. "I have to go. I still have some things to do."

"Mm-hm."

"Will you be okay walking home?" he asked.

She smiled, "Runo and Julie are coming here in a while."

His smirk didn't quite reach his eyes, but she couldn't be sure. "See you tomorrow."

She truly wanted to trust that he was okay, but his tendency to hide injuries didn't exactly leave the best impression. "You'll tell me if something's wrong?" she asked quietly.

He kissed her forehead, "Of course I would Alice." What a lie that was…

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

"So you finally decided to come? You're late," Ryu chided. "You know how I hate that little raven."

Shun was silent.

"Hm, quiet today too?" Ryu smirked. "Good, that'll make the screams so much more fun to hear."

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Dan was surprised that he woke up before Shun had gotten there. It was usually his best friend that had to kick him out of bed. **I'm sure he enjoys it…Eh, if he's not here, I can go back to sleep!**

Just as he was beginning to drift off, he heard Shun's voice, "I know you're awake Dan. Get up."

"Fine," Dan grumbled. "You're late today."

Shun shook his head, "Dan, you got up earlier than usual. I don't know HOW that happened, but it did."

"Hey!" Dan replied indignantly, "I can get up early!"

Drago opened up, "Really Daniel?"

"Drago…" he whined. "Come one buddy, don't tell me you agree with Shun."

Shun smirked, "Are you getting up or not?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

Soon after, they were back outside on their way to Interspace. Dan was surprised that Shun hadn't made some snarky remark yet. **Then again, he's been a lot quieter lately. **Dan had heard Alice say the same.

He always seemed a bit tired, and his battle style had begun to change. It was much more like his, and that wasn't good, considering that Shun prided himself in stealth.

What was going on with their friend?

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Dan and Marucho walked into the girl's house. "Hey guys."

They had decided to meet after all five of them agreed that Shun was definitely not telling them something. They weren't sure what, but it was taking a toll on him.

"So, what's the plan?"

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Alice wasn't sure if this was good. "Shun has reasons to do something. We shouldn't be following him, it's not right."

"Alice, he's been going somewhere every night after we all meet up in the café. What it's something that needs to be stopped. He could be getting hurt!" Runo said.

"Still," Alice tried.

Dan looked at Alice, "Let's just see what's up. If it's nothing, then it's nothing. It'll be fine Alice."

She resigned, "Fine."

They kept on slowly walking a good distance from him. He walked down the street and then turned to the left instead of the right. He was definitely not headed for home now.

Suddenly, Shun picked up speed, and they struggled to keep up. "Man, I forgot how fast Shun can go," Dan huffed as they all tried to keep pace by running.

They ran for almost a mile before Shun began to slow down again. "By some miracle, we've actually been able to keep up with him," Marucho stated.

Runo was about to cheer, but was cut off by Dan dragging her backward. "What was that for?" she hissed. He pointed at Shun who was a bit farther off, and looking back at their general area.

"He almost heard you. Truly, I'm actually surprised he hasn't already."

Alice bit her lip, "Maybe you guys are right. Maybe he is tired, so that's why he's not up to pace like usual."

"See Alice. We did have a good reason for this," Julie soothed.

Dan turned around again, "Crap!" he shouted.

"Dan!" Julie whispered, "He'll hear you!"

"Guys," he said in a normal tone, "He's gone!"

"What?" Runo said, and looked around. "You're right…" She stamped her foot in anger, "We were so close too!"

Gloomily, the group of five headed back the way they came. They would have to figure out another way to find out what Shun was up to.

**Yes, it is Jazz...Yep, I'm reading this story, and I'm really starting to doubt it. I really feel like it's not good enough...Ah, well, I'm not one for leaving things unfinished, so you'll just have to bear with me :)**


	12. Chapter 11: Apologize

**I don't own bakugan. I was looking over all my stories, and I have sooooo much to FIX. Ugh.**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Ch. 11

"Again!"

The younger landed and then stumbled on the ground. Usually, he would have achieved another flip and landed perfectly, but now he was just scraping by.

"Again," the older voice called once more.

The ventus brawler coughed once before getting up and trying to move away from his father. The last two days had left him worn. His father had decided that he needed to try newer methods to better teach Shun.

_"So, what's the 'lesson' today?" Shun asked sarcastically, looking at his father. He'd long decided to stop trying to escape him. He had connections to every underworld member in Japan, and they seemed to find Shun's friends very easily._

_He wasn't sure how many times he had to pretend to go somewhere and take care of some men before returning to try and explain why he was dusty. He was running out of excuses, options, and time._

_Ryu sneered at his son. He had become numb to the injuries that were given to him, everything from shock collars to knives._

_"You've become weak, and it's becoming tedious. So, now, we'll be playing a new battlefield." He pointed out to the vast forest that went along with the dojo._

_"If you can avoid me, then you can escape my lessons for the day. However, we'll be doing this until you get it right. I'm not my weakling father, Shun."_

_Shun muttered uncaringly, "Of course not. He wasn't crazy."_

_"What did I say about speaking without permission?" Ryu asked, picking up a small needle. Shun knew that it had a drug in it, but he could do nothing but take it. Unless he wanted the others to get hurt. It wasn't too bad. It made the pain go away. He knew that was a bad sign, but he did nothing to fight it._

_Ryu jabbed it into Shun's elbow, roughly gripping the elbow so it bled. Shun pulled away, "It's a bad manner that should be reformed…" he answered sarcastically._

_"I dislike the tone, but it's good enough for now."_

Suddenly, Shun was laying on the very hard ground, his father leaning over him. "Get up," he growled. "You weakling! Have I already pushed you to your limits?"

"I'm still fighting Ryu."

"Enough for tonight. Daylight's already coming in so tomorrow I expect you to be here earlier. We'll have to make up for the time you spent slacking off."

Shun walked out of the dojo, grabbing the bag he brought with him. He changed quickly, hoping that the group wouldn't pay attention to his lack of sleep.

He rushed over just in time to wake Dan up. Coughing slightly, he got Dan out of bed as he did every day-with a cup of water.

"What the heck?" Dan spluttered.

"You'd think a person would learn to get up after so many times," Shun said dryly.

"He's right Daniel. If you didn't spend last night watching movies until one, we wouldn't have this problem," Drago quipped.

Dan fumed. He was about to retort, but Shun's coughing caught his attention. "You alright buddy?" he asked, getting out of bed.

"Yeah," another cough, "I'm fine."

The pyrus said nothing about the shadows under his friend's eyes.

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

That persistent cough remained throughout the day, which was proving to completely annoy Shun. Since they had no battles scheduled today, Dan and the aforementioned brawler were practice-battling. The usual two out of three, and Shun was extremely lacking.

Though Drago had a much higher power level, Shun was still able to easily keep up with him using what Dan called 'ninja skill'. However, today, Shun was quickly falling behind, giving Dan an easy win. The second battle was a bit fiercer, and luckily Shun won.

The third battle took just minutes, which worried the pyrus brawler because Shun had made a move that could have actually won the match had he followed it up.

Dan walked over to Shun, "Are you alright man? You've been coughing all day."

"I'm fine. It's nothing Dan." Though the words being punctuated with several coughs said differently…

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

The café was empty today, which was good. Shun wasn't sure that he wouldn't snap at some poor, unassuming customer if they approached him. Taking the same booth they did every night, Runo quickly launched into her idea about the newest fashion line.

"…and that's what I hoping over all. What do you think Jules?" the bluenette asked breathlessly.

Julie squealed, "I love the idea! It's great! You have any sketches yet?"

"I'd love to see some too," Alice quipped.

Runo scratched her cheek, "Not yet. They're not complete, so I left them at work. I just need the fabric, so I can finish it soon."

Even Marucho and Dan seemed interested enough about Runo's new line, since it incorporated them this time as well. Shun, on the other hand, was only focused on one thing. **I have to get to the dojo early today. I almost forgot. Man, what is wrong with me? I have to make up some excuse…**

Though the thoughts went through his mind at alarming rates, everything began to slow down as he leaned his head against the window. It felt cool against his skin, and he found himself closing his eyes against his will.

He felt Alice shift beside him, but let it go as his lack of sleep caught up with him. Soon enough, the hyper-aware ninja was silently slumbering.

Meanwhile, the entire group had yet to notice Shun's lack of input as Dan retold a story that had happened that day. Alice kept her attention on Dan, "That's the craziest thing I've heard."

"Well it happened! Right Shun?" Dan asked his friend, turning in the booth to see him.

Alice stiffened as she felt Shun's hand slide off hers to rest beside it. She suddenly realized the all too different quiet coming from her boyfriend. "Shun?" she lightly touched his arm.

Her hand moved back almost immediately as the heat slapped her skin furiously. Shun twitched weakly, as if trying to move away from her, but that wasn't foremost in her mind.

Alice leaned over to try and feel his forehead, only to be surprised when Shun didn't move at all when she did so. Usually he'd sit up or push her hand away from him and say that he was fine and not to worry, but he was completely still.

She looked back at Runo and Julie, "He's burning," she said. Alice put her hand out to show them her hand. Her hand itself was warm from keeping it on the brawler's forehead too long.

"What's wrong with him? He never gets sick."

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

"It looks like we're staying here tonight," Runo stated. She knew Alice wouldn't leave him alone, and Dan was likely to follow suit.

Julie groaned, "I can't…I left all my things back at home, and I still have to work on my new report. I'll just stay anyway. I can go back tomorrow early."

Dan shook his head, "No, it'll be fine. You and Marucho go on home. I know that Marucho has some stuff to finish up too. Plus, I don't think Shun'd be too happy with all of us crashing here because we were worried about him."

"That's true," Runo chuckled.

"Alright then. Me and Marucho are off!" Julie chirped. She shut the door behind her and they could all hear her chattering away with the former aquos brawler.

"So, We'll take the guest room, right?" Runo asked, pointing at herself and Alice.

Dan nodded, "I got the couch," he responded. He went off, chatting with his bakugan.

Alice looked like she was about to protest, but Runo cut her off, "You are not going to stay up all night taking care of him, got it? We'll take shifts, it'll be fine. He's just got a fever, he'll be alright."

Alice nodded at her friend in agreement. They sat around Shun's bed for a while before moving off to go to bed. Alice went off to lock the door and then put her key to Shun's house back into her bag.

Runo knocked on Shun's bedroom door, "You want to go change?" she asked quietly.

Alice smiled slightly, "Good thing we had extra clothes at the café, right?" she asked.

"Mm-hm. Now go," Runo shooed out her friend. After the redhead closed the door, the younger turned to the ventus brawler's sleeping form.

_Shun was under his covers, still asleep. His skin looked flush and glistened with sweat. Placing a bowl of water and towel on the stand next to his bed, Alice pushed a thermometer into his mouth._

_"104 degrees," she said. _

_Dan responded, "That's no surprise. His skin is searing hot."_

_"He's been looking tired a lot. This is probably why," Julie replied._

_"He's been pushing himself, like usual," Runo said dryly. _

_Alice sighed, and placed the cool cloth on Shun's forehead. The effect was immediate. Shun's face relaxed and his body seemed to ease._

_"He'll be fine, don't worry."_

Alice walked back in, just as Runo came out of her thoughts. "Hey, Runo, I'll stay first. That okay?"

Runo stood up, "That's fine. But, I'm serious Alice, wake me up later. Alright?"

"I will," Alice smiled. She sat down in the chair, but stood back up when Shun's jacket fell to the ground.

She picked up a piece of paper that had fallen out. She silently read it. **Box, pick place? What could that possibly mean?**

The man looked up at the top floor. He wrinkled his nose, but turned around and walked away. He sneered arrogantly as he thought about his son.

"What a weakling…" Ryu muttered. He strode confidently back towards what had become his lair.

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Shun's sat up quickly and the towel slid off his forehead. He picked it up and set it on his stand, only to spot the thermometer and bowl already there. He raised an eyebrow, but steadily placed the towel down.

Looking at the clock, he saw it read four in the morning. He was beginning to wonder what had happened, when he realized what the warmth by his abdomen was. Alice.

She was dozing peacefully with her head on the bed on top of her arms. It abruptly hit him. He must have fallen asleep at the café.

**Crap! **He scrambled stealthily to check if any of his wounds had been freshly bandaged. They all looked old and dusty. **So they haven't seen… **He would have to change them later.

"I can't go back to the dojo now. I'll have to just prepare myself for tonight," he muttered to himself. He looked at Alice. She was sleeping quietly, and if she had watched him all night, he couldn't risk waking her up.

He shifted the covers a bit more and got out of the bed on the opposite side. He padded around to grab his jacket off the back of the seat, and felt her shift.

"What are you doing Shun?" Alice's voice pierced him.

He sighed, "I'm fine Alice. Don't worry."

"You have a fever," she stated.

He leaned down, touching their foreheads, "Had. I had a fever."

Alice exhaled, "That was quick."

"Well, he has a freaky ability to get better quickly," a voice said. Shun stood up to see both Runo and Dan in the doorway, the latter still in pajamas and rubbing his head. They both walked into his room and settled on the bed.

"Why are all of you here?" he asked, sticking his hands in his pockets. Alice stood up next to the brawler.

Dan rolled his eyes, "You were sick hot-shot," he quipped.

"And now I'm not," he responded pointedly, "and I'm surprised you can even coherently do anything at this time," Shun finished smirking.

Runo chuckled, "Sounds like he's fine to me Alice. I think he's better."

Alice smiled, "Alright. But don't get sick again Shun! You scared me, you were burning!" she chided her boyfriend. Then she leaned up a bit to reach his cheek, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Well, if you're fine, then I'm going back to bed. Wake me up when it's later," Dan said, and walked out of the room back to his place on the couch.

Runo chuckled, "I'm going to just head home since I'm up. Alice?"

"I'm coming!" the redhead said.

She turned back to Shun, who was grabbing the bowl and thermometer. She took them from his hands and told him to get the chair. After he placed in back at the table, he walked into the kitchen to see what was taking Alice.

She placed the bowl on the drying rack. "Shun?" she asked quietly.

"Hm?"

She hugged him, "I really am glad you're alright." Her voice sounded muffled in the crook of his neck, "I don't know what we'd-what I'd do without you."

He put his hand on her head, "You too Alice. You too."

She couldn't see the wavering in his eyes. And when she finally let go, she was so happy, she didn't hear his quiet whisper.

"I'm sorry."

**JAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Sorry, I've just been wanting to try that for a while. X) Well, I'm beginning to doubt this story a lot. I look over my thoughts, and all that goes through my head is, "Wow, this is just sad." Eh, well, looks like I'll just have to deal with it. Whatevs.**

**See you all next week. Oh, and just as a heads up, I have a recital coming up, and may not update next week, but I will make it up to you by updating two chapters the week after. Love you all!**


	13. Chapter 12: Zest

**I don't own bakugan. Get over it.**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Ch. 12

Shun had shown no signs of wear after the little fever bout, but they weren't sure that he was even close to being the usual healthy that he was.

Every day, he'd come go and wait for Dan like usual, but there were more times than not when Dan would find Shun slumped against the wall, beginning to drift off. And now, he'd begun to drink coffee, the one drink he absolutely detested.

They knew something was going on with Shun.

Every night that they would part ways and go on to their respective houses, Marucho and Dan would double back and go to the girls'. They would then try and plan out what there next step would be to find out what Shun was clearly hiding.

After their first failure at following him during the night, they decided that only two people would try and seek him out. Within just days, they found out he was going towards the dojo each night. They conceded at that point, and began to assume that it was just Shun training again. He was just taking it a bit too far.

They weren't sure why, but Dan had seen another person there once. No one else had seen it, but he swore that he'd seen another figure on the opposite side of the dojo.

"Shun?" Runo asked on particular evening. They had decided the night before to finally ask Shun what the heck he was doing.

"Yeah Runo?" he responded. He was back to his form of smirks and dry humor, and just that intoned it.

"Well…" Runo began. She was trying to find a way to ease into the question, but she couldn't find a way to phrase it. **How am I supposed to say this? So, how were your guys' battles today? By the way, can you tell us why you sneak off to the dojo every night?**

"The thing is…" she tried again.

Shun raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to tell me any time soon?" he prodded.

Julie spit it out rapidly, shutting her eyes as she did so. "Why have you been going to the dojo every night?" she yelled.

Shun's expression changed, "What?" he asked.

Runo rolled her eyes, "Don't try and lie Shun. We may not be able to tell when you lie, but we will find out eventually."

Alice sat next to him silently. Shun turned toward Dan and Alice, "I'm guessing you're all in this?" he questioned. At Alice's refusal to look at him, he took it as a yes.

"I've been training. Why's that such a big problem?" he asked dryly.

Alice looked up at him, "If it's making you sick, then you need to lighten up," she said.

Shun crossed his arms, "Look guys, I'm fine. That was just once, don't worry about it."

**Why don't I believe him? **Marucho thought, **He's been saying that a lot recently.**

Dan began to speak, "But S-"

"I said don't worry about it. I'll take it a bit more easily, alright?" His eyes said not to push it too far. He could take care of himself. Then, they changed to look more amused, "Why, in the first place, were you guys following me?"

All five faces changed to several degrees of embarrassment. He took the chance to chuckle. Shun glanced outside and saw the very man that had put him in this position.

His eyes narrowed, and the man waved before continuing to walk past the café. To anyone else, he simply looked like a man who was making his way home, but Shun knew better.

"Oh, it's that man again," Julie commented. She hadn't seen the wave, but she saw him walking away.

Runo snickered, "Maybe he DOES like you Alice." She turned to take a look at Shun's face. To her disappointment, he was still looking outside. She pouted, **I thought I had him for once…**

Alice shook her head and smiled, "He comes past here every day."

Shun's head whipped toward her. Luckily, no one was paying him attention, or they would have seen his slightly widened eyes shift into narrowed, fearsome ones.

"I think this is the way to his house. Plus, he never stops or anything, he just walks straight past."

Julie shifted her lips, "Not even once?"

Alice bit her lip, "There was one time," she said aloud. "He came in during the lunch rush and ordered a green tea and a slice of orange zest cake."

Marucho pushed up his glasses, "Why do you remember that so clearly?"

Alice smiled, "It's because I thought it was Shun for a moment!" she said.

"Huh?" Dan asked.

"Well, his hair was all straight, and I saw only the top of his head for a second. Another thing was that he ordered the same thing as Shun! I almost called him Shun by accident," she blushed.

They all turned to Shun. They assumed that the slight change in his features meant that he was a bit surprised, which was true, but for very different reasons. **No wonder he knows her…he's been watching her every day…he's been keeping tabs on them to make sure I don't do anything. That b*stard…**

The ventus brawler knew that Ryu had only chosen those two things because they were his mom's favorite things to make. The tea was always homemade and the cake was carefully prepared every single time she created it.

He was taunting Shun every step of the way.

Dan suddenly hit his fist in his hand, "That's why he looked familiar! It's because you look like him from the back!" he shouted happily.

Shun looked up for a second before bringing his eyes back up, as if looking for strength. But before he could say anything, Drago interjected, "A little slow there Daniel."

"Come on Drago! Not you too!"

There were several more minutes of chatter before it was time to go. As Dan closed the door to his apartment, he thought a bit more about the man he'd now seen for a second time.

"I don't think that's it…" he muttered. **Why does that man seem so familiar? I feel like I know him, not just like I see him in Shun.**

"Heh, maybe he's secretly Shun's relative that's come back to haunt him," Dan joked to himself. "That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard."

**JAZZ!**

**Did I get your attention? No? I had to try. Heh, Dan is just so oblivious. You gotta love the dude! See you all next week!**


	14. Chapter 13: Dojo

**I don't own bakugan. Pity, I'd be rich. Mentions of torture and swearing in this chapter.**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks

Ch. 13

Tonight was the night. They'd waited for long enough and they were getting sick of seeing Shun walk in and pretending that he was perfectly fine. He had told them he would take it easy almost a week ago, and nothing had changed.

Even after he said that he would take it easy, there were still many cases where he would wince if he moved a certain way. If he was wincing, that meant it was serious.

They had gotten Kato to drop them off a bit off the dojo, so they could see when Shun would go in. He would probably catch them if they went on foot, if he was even going slowly enough for them to keep up. Waiting didn't take too long, because Alice spotted the raven as soon as he jumped over the front door.

Silently, the five crept to the edge. Dan had no problem pulling himself over and to the garden. He waited as Alice and Julie went over as well. They had no trouble getting over and jumping down. Now, Runo and Marucho went over. It was just their luck that they would fall into the very trap they had succumbed to years ago.

Runo and Marucho were careful not to scream, even as they fell, thought Runo was close to biting her tongue off from the effort. After the close shave, Runo and Marucho sat in front for a couple of minutes before the group decided to proceed.

"What about the traps inside?" Julie asked. They were all too aware of Shun's grandfather and his want of holding onto his ninja lifestyle. That meant whispering floors and all.

Dan looked at Marucho, "Hey, did you get them all down?"

"Yeah, I got them down after Shun asked me to."

Alice felt the fear crawl further up from the pit of her stomach, reaching her chest. Something felt off about everything that was happening. They stopped in the main hallway, almost bumping into each other. Dan stood there, gaping at the wall next to him.

Runo hissed, "What's wrong? Keep moving Dan!"

Alice took a breath, "Dan? Is something the matter?"

The silent boy nodded. He pointed at the wall, using the small light he'd brought to shine on the words that had become visible. The group silently read it, not understanding its meaning.

"Games? What games?" Julie questioned obliviously.

"I have a feeling that these weren't fun games Julie. At least, not for Shun."

"Why do you say that Marucho?" Alice asked quietly.

He closed his eyes briefly, "Did you guys look closely at the words?" When they shook their heads, "The letters, at least some of them, are a bit reddish-brown guys."

"Then, I'm guessing it's…" Dan trailed off. They all knew the word that he hadn't said. **Blood.**

"If this person's not for losing, what does that mean for," Runo thought about the word 'raven', "Shun, I'm guessing?"

"I don't think it could be anything good," Marucho answered.

A thought suddenly dawned on the bluenette, "Could this be the same thing that was in the stalker letter?" she asked, careful to keep her voice low.

"That's not much of a stalker letter. It's more like a death threat."

"Exactly," Runo pointed out, "Wouldn't that be the perfect reason not to show us the letter? We would have immediately called the police, even if Shun told us not to."

"Why would Shun LET a stalker get to him?" Dan stated back. "He would ignore the person. Shun wouldn't be visiting the person or letting him stay at his dojo!"

"Blackmail?" Julie suggested.

"About?" Marucho asked.

Dan answered bluntly, "There's nothing good to blackmail Shun about. Unless having a dead family is bad."

"Don't be so insensitive!" Runo retorted.

"Well, it's true!" Dan was waving his arms back at her. "Plus, if there was anything to blackmail Shun on, I would have found it by now."

Alice decided to speak up. Well, whisper up. "Maybe we should focus on finding Shun. Then we can just ask him. If he's here, there wouldn't be any way for him to get out of answering our questions. We have all the evidence."

Marucho shifted, "That's the best plan we have. Maybe we should split up into two groups to try and search faster."

Within minutes, the groups walked in opposite directions. Marucho, Julie and Runo said they would head towards the kitchen, and then search outside. They all made sure to have lights and cell phones at the ready as they marched off.

Alice and Dan went along the hallway, walking slowly to avoid sounds that could give them away. The shadows of the house that Dan used to goof off in had suddenly become fearsome. They opened each door silently, taking time to make their way through the maze-like house. **How did Shun ever live here? This is huge, **Alice thought.

When they went off the main and into a smaller hallway, Alice could sense that gnawing feeling begin to climb past her heart into her throat. Dan stopped at the door.

Something felt off about this door. It was as if there was an invisible signal from Shun telling him to turn back now. On instinct, he turned off the small flashlight. As he reached for the small notch that was the handle he recalled the door from the past.

_"Hey Shun! Do you want to play hide-and-seek now?" Dan chirped happily, pleased that his friend finally got to play with him. It had been two WHOLE days since he saw him!_

_Shun looked off before nodding, "Sure. That'd be fun here, wouldn't it?" he asked. If Dan had been as perceptive about Shun as he was at eighteen, he would have realized something was off. But at the small age of five, he couldn't fathom why Shun looked a bit fidgety._

_"But Dan, before we start, I want to tell you which rooms you can't go into." Dan pouted at the idea of restrictions, "Dan," Shun started._

_"Fine."_

_"Okay, so Grandpa's room and my parent's room are out," Shun said. That much was obvious, it would be rude to enter those two rooms. Shun led Dan down a hallway and stopped at the first door. "This room is also off-limits."_

_"Why?" Dan was curious. Shun's dad went in there a lot, especially whenever he was over._

_"That's my dad's private room. Even I'm not allowed in there," Shun looked at the door as if it were about to bite him. Dan nodded and they walked back._

_If Dan had been more attune to Shun, like he was in his later years, he would have realized that Shun had been in that room. Several times, and each more frightening than the last._

_Shun Kazami was afraid of that room. _

Steeling himself, Dan opened the door. Alice could immediately feel the horror coming from it, even before she could see anything inside. Dan took a breath in, and slid open the door. The pair walked into the dark room. They spotted the one they were looking for immediately, and Alice's eyes welled up like a pond after a monsoon.

She could see all the cuts, scrapes, and bruises that were hidden beneath his ripped up shirt and jeans. His jacket was next to him, already red in color, and quickly fading into brown. His hair didn't look immaculate, but rather hung around his face as a sort of protection.

Alice saw that oddly, his face looked fine, besides the smudges of blood and cuts. When she thought about it, someone hurting him then leaving his face perfect, it made her feel sick inside.

He had been leaning against the wall in an attempt to regain some form of control of his body before leaving. That 'lesson' had left him feeling completely exposed, and his emotions still swirled rapidly, threatening his coherency.

Shun looked up. What could his father want now? He saw red hair and realized who it was.

He groaned and slid down the wall, covering his eyes, leaving smudges of red along the wall. "Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t," he muttered over and over. How could he explain this?

**Jazz peeks in, wiggles back out...Whaddya think? Well, whatever the case, we've reached the "no return" point. If you've stuck around this long, I am EXTREMELY grateful! I love all of you!**

**Shout out to Pooch2010, for keeping me going, InnocentDiamond, for insightful tidbits, and for the forthcoming reviews. You guys rock!**

**Tip: From here on out, there is going to be mentions of torture, and maybe a little cussing. See you next week!**


	15. Chapter 14: Protection

**I don't own bakugan.**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Ch. 14

Just as Dan and Alice reached the ventus brawler, "Look at what I found Shun." Shun froze from trying to calm his girlfriend down. He stood in front of the two, but Ryu saw Dan and Alice.

"Well, well, looks like the whole gang is here. Good," he said, smirking fully, as he roughly gestured for the three to go to the others against the wall. Though the room was dark, the moonlight filled it, reaching into the crevices to be the spectator for this very climatic moment.

"You're the man that we saw out the window!" Julie stated as soon as she felt safe.

Runo stood by Dan, trying not to attack this man, "Who are you? What do you want with Shun?"

Without responding, he looked at Shun, who was in front of the group trying to calm Runo down. He stood with his back dangerously faced toward his father. **Crap, they must've followed me! I can't believe this, why didn't I notice…**

Lost in his hurried thoughts, his father was able to easily grab him and pull him backward, "Look who's trying to be a hero again." Ryu sneered as he said the words.

"I'm not going to ask again! Who are you?" Runo demanded.

Ryu grinned like a wolf, "I'm wounded Shun. You didn't tell them about me!" he said, yanking back Shun's left arm to make him wince. It was already weak from the shoulder wound, so the pain created a wave of illusion, making the brawler unable to focus.

"Go to hell Ryu. Why would I ever tell them about you?" he still spat out, regardless of the pain it was causing. **I have to get them out, I have to get them out, I have to get them out…**

"Didn't I tell you not to speak back so arrogantly?"Ryu roared. The five still in a severed group watched in fear as Ryu suddenly whipped the knife out of his belt and stabbed Shun. He twisted and pulled out the knife and let the younger boy fall to his knees.

"Shun!" Alice said, muffling her cry with her hands.

Shun was gripping his abdomen with his right hand, letting his hair fall in front of his face to not let them see the pain he was in. He needed them to be sane to get them out safely. He quietly gasped as the fire began to run through his stomach, threatening to bring more blood.

"So, little raven, shall I tell them who I am?" Ryu mocked, sticking the knife back in his holster. He curled a part of his hair, and let the little ringlet go.

Dan stared at his friend's trembling form and furiously glared at the man, "Goddammit, just tell us who you are!" He wasn't in the mood for games. Shun had to go to a hospital. NOW.

"Hm, the brat finally decides to speak."

Dan's head tilted up at the tone of the voice. He'd heard it so many times. It had always been mature and strict, but gentle as well. He remembered the wavy black hair that reached just above the man's shoulders, and the deep eyes. He remembered Shun's fearful and angry look at the man, regardless of who he was.

"Yes, it's me Daniel."

"Shun said you were gone, that you left the house." Dan was trying to process this all. **Remember, keep calm. Keep calm, and you'll be able to keep Marucho, Shun and the girls safe.**

Julie glanced to the side, "Dan, who is he?"

Ryu squatted, balancing on the balls of his feet. He took his slender finger and placed it under the pale chin of the ventus brawler. Carefully and contemptuously, he lifted his son's head by the chin, forcing them to look at his sweaty and pale face.

He was gasping lightly for air, and his cheeks rose with each struggled breath. There was a small rivulet of crimson blood coming from the corner of his mouth, making his lips glow like fire against his ashen skin.

He looked like he was at Death's door, but too weak to knock. Shun-cold, calculating, secretive Shun-looked utterly spent and battered, with his face tugged up by a man they didn't know.

"Why don't you tell them, little raven?"

Shun gritted out, looking at the man, and still gasping, "Rot in hell."

"Insolent brat." Ryu said, and he faced the group, "Well darlings, call me Ryu Kazami. Shun's father." He stayed in his position, shifting his finger to tilt Shun's head toward him.

"W-What?" Alice said, staring at the man. All of a sudden, they could see all the similarities. The skin tone, the hair, the features. **They look so alike… **Runo thought appallingly.

"Poor Shun here wanted to keep that a secret, didn't you?" Ryu asked his son, turning Shun's face towards him.

Shun suddenly lashed out his foot and surprised everyone by knocking out Ryu's feet. He flipped and landed, "Looks like the little raven still hasn't learned to keep its' clipped wings to itself."

"Shut up Ryu! Just shut the hell up!" Shun yelled, unsteadily standing in front of his friends. The five watched, until Shun signaled to Dan to get them out. Shun kept his father's attention, surprising even himself with his strength. **Must be adrenaline. Gotta keep going. I've got to make sure they make it out.**

The fight continued until Ryu jumped in front of one of them and got ahold of…

"Alice…" Shun breathed. He stood in front of his father, tightly gripping his wound again. He knew he was bleeding out, even with the jacket he'd grabbed beforehand to pad it.

"Let her go, Ryu."

"Like I said Shun, would you listen to me if I didn't put one of your precious friends at stake? Your protective streak ruins you."

He saw Runo and the others trying to find something, and understood. He had to keep his father talking for as long as he could if he wanted to save Alice. She was the one person who had, albeit unknowingly, kept him grounded this entire time, through all the pain and torture night after night.

"I will get you out of this Alice," he promised.

Alice nodded as much as she could with the knife pressed at her neck. Her tears had dried up, but they sprung up fresh as she looked at Shun from her position. With her past experience as an intern at the hospital, she could tell he already had a broken arm and a nicked artery. **There's so much blood…**

The bluenette gave a silent gasp when she finally found a blunt steel helmet in the cabinet at the far end. Shun's grandfather had been a strange one, but she couldn't be more pleased now. Runo gripped it tightly as she directed Dan, Marucho, and Julie to begin to go back toward Shun.

Ryu, now a bit disturbed by his son's determination, forgot the rule that he'd been taunting Shun about: Never let your guard down.

She came up behind Ryu silently, and did what years of experience with Dan had taught her. Runo crudely banged his head with it, letting the man crumple unexpectedly. Alice let out a breath she wasn't aware of holding as the knife slipped away from her and Dan quickly scooped it up.

Shun's legs gave out as soon as his brain registered that Alice was safe. The girl ran straight to him, reaching there just before the other four. Marucho was already calling the ambulance and police. Alice carefully cradled Shun's head.

He was breathing harshly as his chest rose in effort to give his lungs the oxygen his body needed. He opened his eyes slowly, as if there were weights on his eyelids. His lashes seemed to scrape away the clarity in the topaz orbs that had been there just moments before. His voice was faint and raspy as he spoke to Alice, a deep rattle that shook Dan to his core.

"Good. Y-You're… alright."

"Shh…" Alice said, smoothing his hair down to soothe him. Runo and Julie were now trying to see the damage the knife had caused, as Dan sat next to Shun's head helplessly. "You'll be fine, Shun. Just please hang on."

"Come on buddy. Just keep talking. Just stay awake," Dan pleaded.

The ventus brawler shut his eyes painfully, whispering, "Sorry…hard…everything…catching up."

"Stay awake Shun," Alice ordered.

"I had to," Shun managed, "p-protect you guys." He coughed, and his lips freshly glinted. He kept his eyes closed. "Tired…"

The sounds of the en route saviors were yet to appear. The wind was howling and the animals were out, rustling. Yet, nothing mattered to the group but that one young man, who had risked so much to save what he had.

Heroes deserved to live, didn't they?

**Jazzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...Sorry, I am so tired. I have FIVE projects to do. FIVE. *shudder* Well, this is short, but see you all next week :)**


	16. Chapter 15: Blind

**I don't own bakugan.**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Ch. 15

The wait for them to get to the dojo was long, but after that, it was a blur. The police took Ryu in, though the man was still unconscious, and would wake up with a satisfactory bump on his head. The ambulance screamed in just after the police sped off.

The paramedics rushed into the room, and the younger one almost turned green at the sight of Shun. He was relatively new to the job, and a big fan of the ventus brawler, "Is this Shun Kazami?"

The older took Shun's head from Alice's lap and placed it in his own. He checked Shun's pulse and pulled back Shun's eyelids, "Crap, this is a bad case."

"Weak pulse," he stated to the younger, who had now sprang into action at the urging of a third paramedic. "Dilation of eyes, shock, possible concussion."

"Call in to the hospital NOW. We need at least five pints of blood," The third asked the younger, who ran back out.

"We're talking blood loss, fractures," The third one stated, looking around at the room, which was now being cordoned off by the remaining police officers.

The stretcher was lifted with an unmoving Shun on it. The group followed them out silently. Alice and Runo were right behind the paramedics, and Dan and Marucho a close second.

Julie heard one of the police officers as she walked past, "Anti-coagulants. This is blood thinner. It's half-empty, so I'm guessing that…" She hurried forward.

The silver-haired beauty saw the police taking notes, and taking pictures of the walls, the writing, everything. They acted as if Shun had already died. She knew that it was all needed to help Shun later, but she felt sick even as she walked past it all.

When she exited, she spotted Runo arguing with a paramedic, "You have to let us come!" she yelled.

"We cannot allow that Miss! We'll need space if anything goes wrong. I'm sorry."

Dan stepped in, "Fine. We'll get to the hospital another way, but you have to take Alice," he determinedly stated.

"I've had practice with these situations. Please let me come, that's my boyfriend."

The paramedic seemed to waver at Alice's face, but still refused. Julie was about to step forward to yell at them, but it came in the form of the aquos brawler.

"Our friend's dying, and you're sitting here arguing with us! Just take her and go!" he shouted, shutting them all up.

The paramedic looked at Marucho, and then Alice, "Just please stay out of the way, alright?"

She nodded firmly, "I know."

She climbed in and the vehicle was off into the night. They stood there for a moment until a shout was heard behind them. It was a female officer who waved them all over.

"You four, get in. I'll be taking you to the hospital."

"Um, thank-"

"No time for that! Let's go!" she said.

They all clambered in and went after the ambulance. Dan looked over from the passenger's seat, "Why'd you let us come in the police car? Aren't police officers not supposed to do that?"

"Not true, in severe cases we can bend the rules a bit," she stated, not taking her eyes off the road, "It also tends to help when your sister's kids love bakugan."

Inside the ambulance, Alice took Shun's hand and tried to keep her emotions under control. Her blank look made it easy for the two in the back with her to pity her.

"So, Shun Kazami?" The older paramedic asked.

The younger one looked over at Alice, "Yeah, he's a brawler. Top of the league. What happened to him?"

The first paramedic pointed subtly at Alice, "Only those kids know."

There was silence for several minutes, though the whir of the ambulance was not lost on any of them, as well as the muffled tears that left Alice's eyes. Just when the paramedics were beginning to calm down, Shun's pulse rapidly dropped.

"Sh*t, we're losing him!" The older shouted. He moved Alice back quickly and gently, careful not to upset her. She stared as the pair worked to keep Shun alive.

They entered the hospital area just as they raised Shun's pulse to a regular level. Alice almost tumbled out in her haste to make room for Shun. The entire group reached just seconds after, and the officer took a deep breath as all four climbed out quickly.

Alice was walking alongside the gurney, but was held back by several nurses who stood in front of the entire group.

"No others beyond this point. Your friend will be fine, I'll just need you all to wait over there," the nurse gestured to the empty waiting room.

"Wait, one second," a nurse gestured. "Miss, do you think you could tell us some things that might help?"

Alice nodded numbly, and she went to work.

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

They were all still silent. All five remained silent, lost in their own thoughts, but to the varying extent, they were all about Shun. Two or three surgeons had walked toward the ICU, and every one of them walked back out with blood on their gloves, sighing quietly.

After three to four hours, a man in a white coat finally appeared. He looked through the clipboard and took a deep breath. "Shun Kazami?" he asked.

They all looked up to see him waiting in from of the group. Marucho answered, "Yeah, we're family of Shun's."

"Well, he's extremely lucky. I can't give you all the details, that will be up to his doctor, but I can send you up to his room."

The room was a cream white, and faced a huge garden. The setting sun seemed to be crying as it set, dull and solemn.

Their eyes landed on the unusually prone figure on the bed, and then, on the drip feeding him, not food or water, but morphine. Though the brawlers knew what an IV drip was, only Alice and Dan knew what the contents were.

Alice gasped, while Dan turned furiously on the doctor, speaking dangerously soft, "Why is he being sedated?" The group looked at their leader, startled.

"He resisted the operation. He almost caused a reopening of his wounds. Also, his immunity was appallingly high. Morphine was the only way to bring it down enough for any medicine to work. We had to strap him down at one point in the operation. Please be quiet," With that, the doctor left the room. The doctor sighed as he shut the door. How was he to tell them that Shun, if exerted anymore, could enter a coma?

They all moved closer to Shun. It was too strange. He was sick, and that in itself had been creepy enough, now he was in the hospital. It… didn't seem right. Like it proved that he was actually human.

Silently, they went back out to the adjoined room. It was a nice little private room, and they could still see inside to Shun's, so it was convenient. On the downside, it signaled just how badly injured Shun had been.

"I can't believe this!" Dan suddenly burst out after the silence.

"Shun's dad?" Julie asked.

"No, well, yes, but, I don't get what happened," he clarified.

"What do you mean?" Runo questioned.

Dan exhaled, "Well, the thing is that Shun told me that his dad left the family a long time ago. He got a divorce from his mom and up and left."

"So why did he come back? Why for Shun?" Marucho quizzed.

Runo raised an eyebrow, "That's what we have to ask Shun."

Alice was still silent, and they looked at her worriedly. "Alice?" Runo finally asked. The wall broke. The tears cascaded down her cheeks as she looked down at her knees.

"Why did he hide it from us?" she asked quietly. "Why would he keep that a secret? Shun's not scared, so why wouldn't he trust us with this?"

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

It was just hours after, which led to Alice sitting next to her boyfriend's still form. The words still echoed in her head, _bruised in several….broken ribs…blood lo…fractures in his…stabbed multiple…symptoms of…testing for…serious battering. _She felt like sobbing until she was dry. **How could someone hurt their own child like that? And someone like Shun? He's the sweetest person I've ever met. He's amazing.**

"Alice?" Dan came in cautiously, peeking in. Everyone was there, in the next room, but they had stayed back when Alice went in.

Alice moved to brush away nonexistent tears. "Yeah Dan?" she asked quietly, still holding her boyfriend's limp hand. Dan gulped before turning his gaze from his best friend.

"Maybe you should rest-"

"Please don't say anymore. I want to stay here Dan. Please."

Dan looked at Alice and then forced himself to look at Shun. He took a breath, "Alice," he began softly, "Shun wouldn't want to see you like this. Please, for him?"

"Dan, he didn't want a lot of things to happen, but they happened anyway. You can't make me leave."

"Alice. I'm not joking. I know that it hurts, that you were kept from this truth, but he probably had a reason. Please, at least for him, go get some sleep. Please, I'm begging you."

Alice lashed out, whipping around to face him and standing up, dropping Shun's hand, "How would you know?" she yelled. She walked until she was a foot from him.

"You don't know what it feels like, knowing that if he had told you, you could have done something! That you could have at least helped in some way. That you were being used to make him suffer?" she screamed right in his face, tears now streaming done her pale face.

Dan blanched. "Not know what it feels like?" he questioned. "Alice! I've been his friend for seventeen years!" he said just as loudly, "I was his friend all this time, and I didn't have a clue!" he was stepping even closer to her.

Tears were beginning to form in his red-brown eyes as well, "Not even a hint that something was wrong! He never mentioned anything. Not even once…" Dan broke off.

"Dan-" Alice started, her voice now hoarse. She was holding onto his shoulders to calm him, but he turned his head away from her.

"Don't give me that stupid junk about now knowing. The only difference now is that he threatened you. Back then, it was probably me. I know exactly how you feel, Alice. Exactly how you feel."

Alice was now sitting on the ground next to Dan, crying into his chest. Runo walked in to see why the shouted had suddenly stopped, but at the sight of the two, she was tempted to leave.

Dan gestured behind him, knowing it was her, for her to enter. He gripped Alice, patting her hair. "It'll be okay Alice," he said shakily, "He needs you to believe that. We all have to believe that."

She shook her head as a nod. Her sobs ceased slowly, but surely until the whimpers themselves dissipated as well. "Dan…I'm sorry that I snapped at you."

"It's alright," Dan soothed.

"He probably deserved it," Runo said from behind Alice, sitting on the ground as well. Alice turned around, shocked that her best friend was there, "Wh-"

"I've been here since you started crying."

Alice blushed. It seemed so…petty to cry and not even think of anyone else's feelings, "Runo, I'm so so-"

Runo put up a hand, "Don't say one more word. I know that it hurts. If it were Dan on that bed, I don't know what I would have done. I understand." Runo paused, "But at least let us help you, okay Alice? Shun would kill us if we let you starve on his behalf."

Alice gave a small watery chuckle at the lame attempt of humor, "Thanks Runo."

"Don't mention it."

The five of them went down to the hall, their minds still on Shun. They knew that he had protected them, why he had gone through it all to do it was still held in shadow. Still, they were friends, and didn't that mean that he could tell them everything?

Didn't he trust them?

**Jaz. I shortened my name, isn't it cool? Yeah, I am definitely tired. Well, we are getting into the angst section, so beware, my dear readers. See all next week!**


	17. Chapter 16: Reality

**I don't own bakugan. I really hate this chapter. I really do.**

Ch. 16

Shun groaned slightly as the black slowly faded away to a blurry array of white from the hospital room and the light. He immediately shut his eyes and attempted to assess what was wrong with himself.

He tried to move his legs and toes. **Okay, so, I'm not paralyzed. That's good… **even to himself the attempt of humor sounded stupid. But, he could feel the weight that meant that he had screwed up his left leg.

He took in a deep breath and regretted it. Some of his ribs were definitely broken. His right arm felt a bit heavy, so it was most likely broken or fractured. He already knew that his chest and shoulders were bruised from harsh handling and his wrists as well.

From past experience, he knew the dizziness was either from blood loss or a concussion. He really hoped the former, but knowing his luck, it would be the opposite.

He coughed, and felt pain shoot through his torso. Jerking himself up, he came up on a sight that he knew would stay implanted in his mind for a long time. The warmth he had felt on his left hand was Alice's hand clasping hers. Trying to be careful, he moved his hand slightly away from her.

She immediately opened her eyes and her grip tightened. Who was trying to get her to leave now? **If it's Dan one more time…I know he's trying to help, but I need to stay with Shun. **She looked up and a sight that filled her with new found hope greeted her. "Shun!" she exclaimed.

He winced at her voice and she visibly lowered herself, "Sorry about that."

Shun looked her over. She looked alright, but she was clearly very pale, "What have you been doing?"

"I've been here, staying with you?" she said, not completely understanding his question.

"Alice, how long have I been out?" he asked.

She suddenly looked a bit guilty, "About three days."

Shun deadpanned, "You've been here three days," he paused, "Alice! You need rest!"

"Shun, if anyone needs rest, you do. You have a ton of injuries," she gestured to his general being.

Before he could retort his girlfriend, Dan and the others walked in. They were followed by a black haired woman in a lab coat, which he was guessing was the doctor.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Date (1)," she said calmly, "I'll be taking care of you for the next couple of weeks."

"Weeks?" Shun deadpanned.

"Yes. The damage was relatively serious. Care to explain?" she asked, though it seemed to Shun she already knew. He could tell immediately that she was the kind of woman that did not like to be messed with and could see through a lie within a second.

He glanced at his friends who stood awkwardly at the mention of the reason to his being here, "Not really."

She chuckled a bit, "You sound like my son."

She clapped her hands, "Okay then, I'll do a quick check-up of your vitals," she turned toward the group, "I'll have to ask you to leave. Sorry, but it's procedure."

They said nothing as they left. Alice lingered bit, but when Shun nodded his head ever so slightly, she walked out.

Dr. Date looked over at Alice as she left, "You're very lucky to have such kind friends."

Shun nodded silently, letting her look over his breathing and several wires he was attached to. She looked at the board hanging at the edge of the bed and pursed her lips. "You're lucky to be alive at this point."

"Why?"

"You have bruises, cuts, fractures, broken bones, blood loss, AND a mild concussion."

So he'd gotten both. **Just my luck…** "I'm going to be stuck here for a while…" he groaned.

The elegant lady stood by the edge, "What happened to you?" **If he knows the length of his stay, this can't be an accident of any kind.**

Dr. Date already knew the basic outline. He had been found by his friends, and then his attacker stabbed him once more in the abdomen. He had several injuries and had to be rushed into ICU, and later put into a medically induced coma. His attacker was unknown to her, but it seemed like Shun wasn't at all surprised by him.

"Life."

She shook her head, "I'm not from a very normal family, but this is NOT normal. What happened," she raised her eyebrow, "And don't try to lie, Mr. Kazami, because my son is exactly the same as you."

Shun was a bit curious, "What do you mean?"

"Very quiet, internalizes things, but he lets loose to the ones truly close to his heart," she ticked it off, and then smiled, "gets a lot of attention from any female, thanks to his hair and eyes."

"That's a bit weird."

"You're exactly the same."

"No," he said, "That you were able to decipher me so easily." He didn't know why he felt so compelled to let this woman in. It was the aura she possessed, of ferocity and elegance.

"I have a son exactly like you, just as I said before." She turned from her patient, "Now, let's not keep your friends waiting."

Opening the door, she stepped back to let his comrades in. "Come on in. So, you all are aware of what's already wrong with him." The five nodded mutely, still perturbed by the situation after three days.

Dr. Date watched from next to the door. They were very similar to her son's group of friends. "You guys are welcome to stay, but be mindful of visiting hours."

Several overlapping voices of okay and yes were heard, so she left them to their friend. She frowned as soon as she closed to door. She had some things to look over with this boy.

Entering her office, she pulled out Shun's file, "This is absolutely remarkable. He's been here several times when he was young, then again at nine, thirteen, and seventeen. He's either very accident prone, or doing something very crazy."

She glanced at a picture her desk, "Yep," she blew into her hair, "Exactly like my son."

Turning the page, her eyes narrowed. It was an additional symptoms list. Reading through it, "This better not be what I think it is…Oh my god, what has this boy been through?" She flipped through all the pages quickly, and skimmed through the lab report.

She walked over to the staff elevators that would take her to the upper levels. Entering the lab, "I need the report for Shun Kazami."

The secretary nodded. She quickly found the report, "Here you go Dr. Date."

The black-haired woman read through it and walked back down slowly to her room. "This is ridiculous. As if I didn't have enough to worry about for him. This is going to be a bumpy ride."

Back with his friends, Shun was trying to calm them all down, which was hard in his current state of being bedridden.

"Shun, what exactly happened to you?" Runo asked bluntly.

Shun took a deep breath, "I'm fine, thank you."

"Shun," Dan said, his tone giving that none of them were in the mood.

"Nothing happened. It's nothing I'm not used to."

Alice tried to grab his hand, but his body twitched instinctively away. Dan watched Shun's eyes flinch, but decided not to comment. She drew her hand backward, "Shun, please tell us. We want to know why this happened."

"I chose this, okay? Please, just leave me alone," Shun said, his voice clear that he wouldn't be saying much more. "I chose to let my father do what he did." He said it in a way that Dan could pick out the self-loath.

The group looked at their friend. He looked at them, then at Alice. Her eyes looked sad and tired. He drew a breath, "I will tell you guys. I promise."

Runo sighed, "Fine."

Shun then smirked, "Is that good enough for you guys to sneak me some food?" he asked.

"You sound like Dan," Drago grinned.

He gave his oh-so-famous deadpan, "You guys go into a medically induced coma for three days and then tell me how you feel." Truth be told, he wasn't all that hungry. In fact, he felt downright disgusted at the idea of food, but it took them off the idea of trying to find out about him.

"Okay, after a couple weeks, yes, we'll sneak in some food. Right now, you're on bedrest," Alice said, smiling innocently.

Shun groaned lightly, "I'm screwed. I forgot that you took an internship at the hospital last summer."

Alice giggled, "Get some rest Shun." They all walked out.

Shun's smirked faded. **What am I supposed to tell them? Oh, yeah, my dad liked to abuse me. And now, he came back to finish the job. So, how's life?**

Outside, their feelings weren't any better. Though they were relieved that the ventus brawler had finally awoken, what could they do to help? Dr. Date walked up to them.

"We need to talk," she began, "Well, as you all know, Shun has sustained severe injuries."

"Yeah, we know the extent. Blood loss, broken limbs, fracture limbs, concussion, stab wounds, had blood thinner in him. Am I missing anything?" Dan said sarcastically. The list was much longer, and they all knew it, but the dry humor helped him-them cope.

"Yes, actually, you are."

"What?" Marucho said, surprised. He voiced all of their opinions, stressing the single word.

Dr. Date took a breath. She slowly explained, "Let me explain. With every patient like Shun, we test for certain things. Anything that could have possibly occurred."

"Just get tell us, please," Julie asked.

Dr. Date closed her eyes, "Shun was injected with heroin."

"What?" Dan repeated Marucho's previous statement.

"So you're saying that…" Marucho began.

"Yes. Shun currently has heroin in him, but that's not the problem."

"If that's not, then what is?" Runo asked. Alice knew the answer, but waited for the older woman to give it. She wasn't sure she would have even been able to tell them. The fear began to creep up again, gripping her heart.

"The withdrawal. Shun has been injected enough that when it's flushed from his system, he's going to suffer serious withdrawal symptoms."

"Should we be aware of any?" Alice managed out, speaking in what she hoped was a normal tone.

"Hopefully it won't be too serious," Dr. Date said. "But in his condition,"

"Even the slightest change could cause damage."

As if they didn't have enough problems.

**Jazz here! How's the story? Like it? Yes, no? You STILL don't know?**

**Okay, yeah, I know, that last line was weak, but I couldn't think of any other statements.**

**As for (1) Anyone get the reference? Anyone? **

**Cookies and a scene of choice to anyone who can get it! X)-As long as it's not too mature or a too disturbing- Hint: Pay close attention to Dr. Date's dialogue's. I'll reveal it next chapter!**

**That was…difficult to write. I still can't believe I'm doing this. Me crazy. See ya next time!**


	18. Chapter 17: Remnants

**I don't bakugan.**

**Bold** is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Ch. 17

The next couple of days brought more pain. He was awake, but that was the only upside to it. The blood thinners had luckily been flushed out of his system, which was a serious relief to everyone, and the blood loss had been fixed through sleep.

His left leg, right arm, and ribs were heavily bandaged, and the bruises on his chest, wrists and shoulders were covered as well, but the group wasn't sure if it was because of the cuts, the burns or the bruises.

However, they faced more serious problems with the heroin and a case of PTSD. The group took turns waiting on him, at least when they could.

Even Alice had trouble getting him to do anything. He would pretend to be completely fine, but he refused to eat, shifted away when touched, and refused to go to sleep. When he did, whether by himself or by medicine, he suffered severe nightmares. A lot of the time, the nightmares brought forth the heroin symptom of a high fever.

Shun was currently asleep, with Alice sitting by him. She was reading a book silently, and glanced up when Runo walked in, "Hey Alice," she whispered. "How is he?"

"It's one of his better days." **I can't believe I'm actually using those words. **

Alice smiled a little, pushing the tedious thoughts away, "Hi Runo." She looked at the clock, "You don't have to be here for another two hours, why are you here so early?"

"Oh, I just thought you might want some kind of company," Runo began. "So, we all came!" she sang. At that, the others opened the door and walked in. Julie bounced happily, even under the circumstances, and sat down in a chair.

Alice couldn't help but chuckle at her, "You guys…"

Dan waved her off, "Oh, come on, we're all here, don't bother sending us away."

"I wasn't going to," Alice said.

"You should. He's being loud and annoying."

"Shun, you're awake!" Marucho said.

"Hard not to be," was the response from their dear friend.

Runo intelligently diffused the rising situation, "And we brought food!"

Dan forgot about the jibe and proceeded over to his girlfriend to try and grab something from her. She moved the basket just in time and the brawler's hand fell to his side. "Aw! Runo…"

She sat in the seat next to Alice's, "So, what do you want Shun? I brought some stuff that you can actually eat. Thought you'd want it more than the junky hospital food here."

Shun stiffened. Just the thought of food brought up unpleasant feelings. "Not hungry."

Runo put down the plate, "I know you're not. That's a side effect, but please, could you at least try to eat?" the bluenette pleaded.

"No."

Runo stared at Shun, who gave an equally ferocious glare back. Runo finally sighed and moved back, "Fine, be that way," and she put down the spoon of Jell-O she was holding.

"Thank y-" Shun was cut off by a sudden attack of spoon to his mouth. Runo yanked the utensil out and watched as he swallowed. "What was that?" he yelled at her.

She dug the spoon back into the small dish, "You weren't eating. Now, at least you have something in your stomach. You're welcome."

Drago looked at Shun, "I think that's her way of saying, 'Eat now or die'. Literally."

Julie made an 'oh' sound, "Is that why you wanted to bring food?"

Runo happily nodded. Shun wasn't pleased with the method, but it was something. Though the nausea was creeping back up, it lessened slightly at the feeling of there being food in his system.

"Don't ever do that again," Shun stated firmly. The look in her eye stated that she would find another way to get him to eat if he refused. While she wasn't a ninja or even close to it, but when she wanted to, she was a demon. He sighed. He gestured toward the bowl.

"Give."

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Shun actually seemed a bit more like himself as they talked, though he was much quieter and he seemed pale. All too soon, the nurse came in to put in the dose of morphine. When Alice asked quietly what it was, she replied that it was non-narcotic, so it wouldn't affect his…situation in any way.

For a split second, Runo could have sworn that there was fear in Shun's eyes. However, when he said nothing, and the fear seemed to dissipate, she decided to rule it as a trick of the light.

That was a mistake.

Shun's eyes shut all too slowly, as if he was trying to stop the inevitable. "Don't worry Shun. We're not leaving any time soon, are we?" Alice said kindly.

She leaned over the bar of the bed to kiss him. She pulled back, hoping that the cold feel of his lips was just her imagination. His lips parted as she lifted herself away, "No…" he murmured quietly.

_"So Shun, you've decided to come back, have you?" Ryu asked. "Well, shall we begin?"_

_Shun stared with narrowed eyes at the man that he so stubbornly hated. He had decided to remain silent, unless there was a good opportunity to insult his father. He may have given in, but he was not bowing down._

_"The silent type as always I see. This does make it more fun. Let's see if I can get a scream out of, shall we?" Ryu said amusedly._

_Shun moved like a cat on the ground, taking the cuts as they went. Ryu was having the time of his life, slashing as he desired. He kept on hitting the shoulder, but Shun refused to give him the satisfaction that he knew his father so wanted._

The group kept talking, wanting to stay a bit longer. They didn't notice the slightest twitch that Shun had let loose.

_The scene switched, it was now another night. He had surprised Shun tonight. It had been a mistake to think Ryu wanted to prolong the wait until he attacked as he had done before. _

_There was currently a shock collar around his neck, and he kept as far from Ryu as he could in the dojo. He could still hear his father's voice as he told him about his 'achievements'. The murders he had committed and the ones that had made him famous._

_Even if he was quick, it wasn't fast enough. Shun couldn't get enough distance between him and his father so the stupid collar would stop working._

_Every time that he made a snarky comment, he was jolted with electricity. After the first two hours, he stopped feeling the pain._

Shun's silence switched to the barest of whimpers, so low, none of them heard. Pleas that should never have had to escape his mouth, slipped past the clutch of his tongue, and hit the air.

_The next was what Ryu had called conditioning. Simply put, it was Shun trying to fight back while held back by chains. _

_The younger man had become used to the pain at this point, but it didn't make it easier when his father taunted him. Every single moment he had bowed before him, he remembered not protecting his mother from the same fate._

_Shun stayed silent, and Ryu kept on._

_The scene shifted again. It was quick glimpses, just barely there, but Shun deciphered the memories of the ninja training, of when he was younger, of the brutal scenes of his mother. He wanted it to stop, but no matter what he tried, they continued to move forward._

_They seemed to increase, creating blurs that made the ventus brawler churn in frustration._

His fists clenched. Dan looked over, "Shun?" he asked uncertainly. His friend had a peaceful expression, but it looked slightly forced, as if he really wasn't asleep.

"Shun?" he repeated. The former's hands relaxed.

"Did you see that Drago?"

"See what Daniel?"

"…Never mind. It's nothing."

_The next one was of the night his father had chosen Shun to 'help' test out drugs. He was injected a couple times with heroin. Shun had raised his eyebrow, "This is your new plan? Did you run out of ideas or something?" he spat._

_"Ah, ah, let's not be hasty. This is just the first phase." With a flick, another syringe emptied into his bloodstream._

_When Shun woke up again, he was back in the chair he was in the first time. There was an IV continuously injecting liquid into his system, "What the hell?"_

_Ryu appeared out of the shadow, "Now, this is phase two."_

_Shun's eyes narrowed, "What?" he questioned cautiously._

_"This is blood thinner…you tend to bleed more when it's in your system."_

_"So…"_

_Ryu shifted and pointed at Shun's other arm. He dragged a blade along the pale skin, eliciting nothing but a wince from his son, "When that happens, you tend to get closer to death much faster."_

_Shun's eyes narrowed once more. He remained silent._

_"I know, you're thinking, why now? But, this," he pulled a hot, burning rod from nearby, "is phase three."_

_He grinned, and then amusedly set it on the long cut, earning a short shout of pain from his son. Shun bit his tongue harshly to stop himself from screaming. Tears worked their way from his eyes as he furiously tried to keep everything at bay._

_"Looks like I finally got something from you. Good, we're finally making progress," Ryu leered._

Shun's heartbeat rose, and then lowered again. Julie spotted it, but it was too quick to make anything of it.

"Something wrong Julie?" Alice asked, turning around to face Shun's monitor.

Julie shook her head. **It wasn't there…It was just your imagination…just your imagination.**

_The scenes blurred together once more, creating nothing but mass confusion. It was an endless void as the calm brawler sat there, trying not to pay attention to any of it. _

_The stories, the lessons, the pain, it all came rushing back, just barely being pushed away by the shredding sanity that held him in place._

"No…"

Alice sat up a bit straighter. None of them were ready to leave yet, and she just realized that Shun had spoken. "Shun?"

He lightly shook his head. It was clear he was still asleep, but suffering from something. Alice knew that she couldn't wake him up, the morphine wouldn't allow it, but it was hard.

His skin seemed to pale even as she watched, and his hands seemed to tighten by themselves.

_Shun was in the most hellish night of all. The day they had all found out. _

_Ryu had been waiting there for him, "You've finally arrived."_

_Shun was silent and turned his head away. Inside, he was already tired. He wanted to figure out some way to get Ryu out of his life, but he couldn't be sure it wouldn't jeopardize his friends._

_Not paying attention, it was easy for Ryu to slip him the morphine again. He collapsed into his father's arms. "Too easy Shun…you let your guard down…"_

_When he came to again, it was the same room. This time, there was no chair, and most of the things had been cleared out but the cabinet of Grandfather's and Ryu's 'work' table._

_"What this time?" Shun spat, moving his sore and protesting limbs into a fighting position. "More drugs? Ninja training? Castration?" he said sardonically._

_Ryu sneered. "Not even close, little raven." He walked a bit forward. "All this time, I've been causing you physical harm."_

_He paused before starting again, "You see, the real reason I came here is because I wanted to see your precious little world crumble. To see you slowly lose you fans, your friends, your freedom. To come crawling back to me, just begging me to let you be a puppet in my hands."_

_He continued, "I wanted to see everything that made you come apart as you lost faith and trust. Your friends would leave you behind, your girlfriend would stop caring. Everything would just stop working before your very eyes."_

_"That clearly didn't happen."_

_"Yet, here we are. You've come to me every night of your own will, just to protect those very people that will sooner or later let you down."_

_"Shut up Ryu," Shun growled. _

_Ryu raised an eyebrow, "I've finally gotten something from you," he said, a smile on his face._

_The next hour was like playing with the devil. Ryu had gotten under Shun's skin, easily finding his weakness within his friends. Ryu had learnt some new tricks from the global Underworld and it's twisted system. Shun was his first test subject, and the lab was long overdue._

_Ten minutes in, instead of trying to attack, Shun spent his strength trying to keep away from his father. It was futile as Ryu's words sank deeper than the weapons he was using._

_Ryu used every different tactic he had. Ninja stars, burns, drugs, knives, and everything in-between. Just to satisfy himself, he made sure that Shun truly was experiencing pain. _

_He talked on and on about Alice and the others, furiously spitting out concoctions about how he would torture them after it was all over. He created images deep within Shun, and the fear made its way onto his features. Ryu had a smile like he found the deep descriptions delicious, watching Shun writhe at every single sentence._

Everything went berserk at once. Shun's heart rate and pulse sky-rocketed. His body convulsed and the soft whimpers grew into full on screaming. Tears were beginning to stream down his face, and the group could do nothing to calm him down.

Drago scuttled back on the stand quickly, startled at the brawler's sudden outburst. Dan and Runo tried to pin down his arms, which was difficult since they were both injured. Julie and Marucho went out to try and find Dr. Date, because they knew that a nurse would not help the situation as well as the elegant woman could.

Alice held his face in her hands, pleading with him to try and calm down. "Shun! You're fine, it's alright!" she tried. "Please wake up. Shun, it's not real!" His screams lowered into whispers and soft cries.

"Shut up…stop…"

Dr. Date walked in on the strange scene. A struggling Shun held down by two friends and his girlfriend who was trying to calm him down. "I need you two to let him go," she ordered Runo and Dan kindly.

They stared, "Trust me."

The pair complied. She told Alice to keep speaking to Shun, to at least try and penetrate him somehow.

Slowly, too slowly, but surely, his limbs stopped moving and his whimpers became half-formed words.

"Don't…touch them…"

They all knew he was pleading quietly, but to whom, they didn't want to acknowledge.

_Within an hour, Shun was a bloody mess. He was face-down, all his composure gone. The shoulder length raven locks splayed out, some strands beginning to mingle in the blood that dripped from several severe wounds._

_He wasn't sure how long it had been. Minutes, hours, maybe even days. He had lost his control long ago. The tricks had finally wormed their way into him, shrouding his friend's images in darkness, splattering them with blood. He could so clearly see them screaming for help, and him not able to give it._

_He was so cold. So alone…His eyelids closed halfway, shutting away the empty orbs from the world._

_Ryu squatted next to his son's head, and began to stroke the side of the boy's head._

_Shun's body heaved, trying to get away from him. He looked completely destroyed, unable to move at all from his father's heavy grasp._

_"Would you look at that," Ryu continued to move his fingers deeper into Shun's hair, "The once proud brawler, laying on the floor, looking like a shattered doll." He leaned in, his mouth just above Shun's left ear._

_"A-Alice…" he whispered brokenly._

_"Too bad Shun…your little b*tch isn't here right now."_

His eyes snapped open quickly and he shot up. He regained his breath. Shun's eyes roved over the people in the room. He saw Dr. Date and his friends. They all looked at him uncertainly, as if he would jump up and bite them.

He looked back at his hands. They were red and had fingernail marks imbedded into the flesh. He closed his eyes again and let his head drop into his hands.

**It's not over…**he thought morosely. **It's never going to be. My father was right, he'd never let me win so easily. Not that easily…**

**PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Dr. Date is from….anyone? No, well then. Here's your second chance guys!**

**I'm very sorry for not updating. Our community lost an eighth grader May 25th . If you don't mind, I would appreciate a moment of silence please.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Thank you.**


	19. Chapter 18: Together

**Disclaimer: I don't own bakugan**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks/dreams

Ch. 18

They were still forced out of the hospital on daily basis, though they knew the times by memory now. It was difficult to even understand what was happening, even at this point.

From Shun's doctor, all they understood was that he refused to eat most of the time, had nightmares, and still pretended like he was fine around them. If this kept up, his recovery would most definitely become a prolonged thing.

_Dr. Date walked into the room to see her latest patient sitting up, staring at his hands. She knew that he had nightmares, but after seeing them in action, she understood the horrific damage they caused him. _

_The only person she'd ever seen have that kind of look on her face was her son. If that was what this boy had gone through, she had a tough road ahead of her._

_"Shun?" she asked softly. She was about to place her hand on his shoulder, but his entire body shifted from her on reflex. He looked at her face and then relaxed._

_"Are you alright?" Dr. Date probed. His body sat up suddenly, like he was defending himself._

_"It's nothing," he gritted out, putting his gaze towards his hands._

_She knew that there were tears mingled in with that sweat, but she said nothing. His hair covered his face well enough that she could pretend that she hadn't seen it. She sighed and went on to check his vitals. "Well, you're doing fine, but you look like you have another fever."_

_To her chagrin, his stormy eyes connected with hers to give her one clear message: Don't ask me anything._

_To her, he looked sad and angry with himself. His friends visited him daily, yet nothing seemed to improve him. He was hurting, that much was telltale. But, around anyone, he pretended that he was the picture of health._

_He pulled out the piece of plastic that she had placed in his mouth and held it out to her. It read 100 degrees. Now that she looked at him, he looked flushed, but that might have been the nightmare._

_Gently, she leaned closer to him. "When was the last time you ate?"_

_He looked away from her, "I don't know," he responded._

_"Shun, you need to accept something. I know that the heroin is probably making you feel like you can't keep anything down, but Alice and the others are getting worried." His eyes softened at his girlfriend's name._

_She took the opening, "At least for her, could do let us help you?"_

_"…"_

_Dr. Date exhaled, "Okay. I'll get the nurse to up the morphine level."_

_He took a sharp breath and winced at the movement. "No, I'm fine."_

_"You need to support yourself somehow. I promise it's non-narcotic."_

_"I'm fine."_

Dr. Date sat in her office. She looked at the picture on her desk before moving over to the reports. "Shun," she said aloud. "How can we fix you? The psychical injuries will eventually heal, but the mental…I haven't heard of horrors this bad since Sage told me about Cye…"

She thought about his friends, **They're so worried as well. The poor things saw a part of their friend that he wanted kept a secret for so long. Shun looked so tired though, like he was just sick of everything. **

However, she could understand his feelings. The police had looked through the dojo and found that Ryu had been recording every single night. He had wanted a blackmail device to keep his son under his boot for the rest of his life.

His friends and girlfriend had demanded to see it, and she went with them. She wanted to go to see how she could better help her favorite patient, but it had been nothing like that.

_The room was dark and big, and the police had them sit around the small screen. "I need you all to know right now that this is not like a horror movie. No special effects, nothing. If any of you feel like you need to leave, the door is to your right."_

_They nodded and the policewoman left._

_Dan gulped and gave the sign to start the video. The beginning wasn't too harsh, a general thing one could bear to see. What hurt the most was that Shun, the strongest any of them had ever seen, was screaming, and none of them had ever heard it. _

_For days, they had been mere yards away from him, just within reach of helping him escape the pain, and they hadn't even known._

_Further and further in they went. Everything Shun had gone through…_

_Julie had tears in her eyes, and Runo and Alice looked away. "Those burns…" Julie breathed. "How horrible."_

_"That's how he got the marks on his neck…that-that collar," Runo whispered. Dr. Date watched the group go into various levels of disgust towards the man._

_"How can humans do that to one another?" Drago questioned quietly. No one answered him._

_The elegant woman told the police to stop. "What? Why?" Dan asked furiously._

_"Do you want to see more?" the doctor asked patiently. She was on the outside after she had gotten a call._

_Marucho took a breath, "Even if we don't want to, we have to. We want to help Shun, and if knowing what happened to him will help, even the slightest bit, we'll do it."_

_"Start the video," Runo demanded._

_Those images would haunt them all for a long time. It was the night that the group had found him. They heard only bits and pieces of what Ryu said, but they could see all of Shun's frustration._

_"How could his father say things like that?" Runo cried, her voice hoarse. "That's just so…so, wrong."_

_Dan could feel his fingertips protesting at the pressure they were under, but he didn't care. All he knew was the man in the video saying those things about him and his friends. He could make out the disgusting sentences, and could see how they dug into Shun._

_"It was to get under your friend's skin," the chief stated, "And by the looks of it, it worked."_

_He dodged rather than attacking and defended instead of insulting. The five watched intensely, trying to convince Shun to fight back through a video. _

_Alice stifled a cry when the screen went black right after Shun had turned and tried to attack Ryu. "What happened?" Julie asked fearfully._

_"It's black for a couple minutes. It does come back…" the policewoman led off. She could see the tears falling from Alice's eyes and the anger emitting from Runo._

_When it appeared again, It revealed Shun, completely battered and on the ground. His body seemed to be trying to regain some movement until Ryu sat next to him. Ryu began to stroke his hair, as if petting a dog._

_"Would you look at that, the once proud brawler, laying on the floor, looking like a shattered doll." He leaned in, his mouth just above Shun's left ear. They could see his torn up body and his hair covering his face._

_The entire conversation before had been quiet, save for the single part where Ryu explained why he had attacked Shun. Now, the words were amplified, like Ryu was trying to capture all the pain in Shun's voice._

_All three girls turned away, and Alice was sobbing at this point. Dan made himself watch the last bit, trying to pretend it wasn't Shun there in the video._

_"A-Alice…"_

_Alice cried, echoing him, "Shun…"_

"How can I help a boy who doesn't want it?" Dr. Date said aloud to herself.

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Julie shuffled through her papers. Her segment had just ended, so she was free for the day. **Maybe I could call Alice to let her know that I could go in today. **

"Hey, Julie," a voice called out.

She looked up, "Oh, yes?" she asked the director.

"Are you alright? You've been daydreaming a lot recently. Is everything fine?"

"Oh, of course!" she chirped. "Don't worry Rick, just a bit bummed about Billy is all."

Rick smiled, "Good. He'll be coming home soon. The time will just fly by, don't worry!"

She walked away, "See you all tomorrow!"

A chorus of echoes were heard behind her. She slouched a bit, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. She still felt a bit sick since that night they found Shun.

**All that blood…**she thought. She walked quietly past all the stores today, not bothering to look into Runo's clothing line to see if anything new was up.

Runo put down the pencil again. She wasn't getting anywhere with this. Every single one of her sketches reminded her of Shun. Her newest fashion line was for guys, and she had decided Shun would help her out.

Her green eyes scanned the tens of drawings to try and spot an idea that might stand out to her. The one that caught her eye was the one she'd drawn specifically for her brother.

Blue heels clicked next to her, sending her head up suddenly from her arm.

"Something the matter Runo?" Cynthia questioned brightly.

"Oh, nothing. I just can't seem to get any good ideas!" she answered frustratingly.

Cynthia picked up the first one by her hand, "This looks good. It just needs some polishing up. It would look good on Shun, wouldn't it? Just instead of green, try electric blue. You never know!"

**Electric blue…those marks on his neck…** Runo thought. She blinked back tears, "Yeah," she answered hoarsely, "It would look good with blue."

Cynthia didn't notice that Runo's head bowed. "Well, get to it! You can do it, I know you."

Runo looked at the huge schedule board that Marucho had designed for her, "I hope so. At least for him."

Marucho walked out of the small office room, rubbing his eyes. It had been a long meeting he had attended for his father. He let everyone leave before making his way up to the presidential suite, which was his office.

His eyes couldn't focus on the numbers before him. Usually, these calculations took minutes at most, but recently, he found that his brain just didn't function.

He looked at the pile of papers next to him. His head was buzzing, "I can't believe this." He held his head as a pinging sound started up. He groaned, "What now?"

Clicking the button, he realized it was Chie. "Hi!" she said brightly.

"Oh, hello Chie," he responded dully.

She furrowed her eyebrows. Her voice became businesslike, "Marucho, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, now putting his full attention on her.

"You seem tired. Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine."

Chie gave him a look, "Marucho? Did something happen to the others?" she asked slowly.

Marucho closed his eyes, "Shun's in the hospital. Severely injured."

"What?" she half-shrieked. "How did HE get hurt? Did he do something stupid?" she inquired.

"Chie! Please, calm down. It's not like that." He hadn't wanted to bring this up. All he saw was the video. He took a deep breath, "He was…tortured."

Chie gasped, "Oh my…I'm so sorry Marucho…"

"No, it's fine."

"Is he alright?" she questioned softly.

"He's alive." He said ruefully. That was the truth. He refused food and sleep, and had nightmares when on morphine. Chie was silent as well as he thought for a minute. He took a look out the window and spotted the café in the distance.

Chie broke the muteness, "Poor Alice…"

Alice smiled, "Have a good day!" she sang. As the last customer left, she turned the sign so it read Closed. It was a bit early to be shutting the place down for the night, but she couldn't trust herself not to drop something and seriously damage the café.

Running her hands under the water, she began to fill the sink with soap. Pulling a cup from the pile, she held it in the stream. She looked down at the cup, and her heart sank. All she could think about was Shun.

Walking in to see him resting, she noticed the second IV that hadn't been there before. The nurse was fiddling with it, setting it up, moving it around, looking that numbers, and stalling. The petite woman looked up, and looked relieved to finally see her. "Ah, Alice, finally. I was hoping to catch you here."

"What is that?"

"This?" she gestured to the IV she was holding.

Alice nodded.

"It's the drugs that Ryu injected into him."

"Why would you give him more?" Alice asked immediately, her voice fierce.

"We have to slowly wean him off. We couldn't set it up before because he was still too weak and adding unnecessary drugs is very dangerous to a person that critical. We'll slowly take him off it."

Alice sighed, pretending not to notice it shift and almost splash into his system. Holding his hand, she sat down.

The nurse left silently. The conversation was over.

He was in the hospital, because of something she could have stopped had she been stronger.

The tears dripped down along her cheeks, "Shun…why didn't you just tell one of us…"

She had trouble sleeping recently. She always fell asleep easily when she was with him in the hospital, somehow finding comfort in his presence. Whenever she slept in her own room, all that penetrated her mind was the one terrifying night when they found him in that room, completely mangled. All she heard was his voice, ever so pain-filled, trying to call her name.

The thoughts occupied her until she finished the dishes. She made her way home before Julie and Runo, though she knew Runo would come in late and Julie was at the hospital until she went over later.

She opened the scrapbook after taking it out from her desk. She slowly found herself crying again as she went through it. It was filled with pictures of her and Shun.

"Shun…" she led off, looking at a particular picture of Shun and Dan.

Dan walked out of another arena. "Hey! Dan!" a couple of high-pitched voiced screamed. He winced, but turned around with a fake smile.

"Yeah?"

"Um, can I have your autograph?" one girl asked.

"Can I have Shun's signature too?" a second one questioned innocently.

Dan paused mid-sign. He finished off, "Sorry. He's on vacation, but I'll ask for you, okay?"

He walked out of the dome before he could get stopped by someone else asking about Shun. It was hard enough to handle all the disappointment when he had to withdraw from all the tag-team battles, but every single battle was met with muffled cheers.

Dan had become so used to seeing Shun's deadpan stare whenever he left the stage bouncing, that he felt deflated himself when he remembered why he wasn't there.

"Drago?" he asked.

"Yes Daniel?"

He stuffed his hands in his pocket, "Why do you think that Shun hid it all from us?"

"I don't know Daniel. I wasn't with you to tell for sure, but it might have been for the same reason as you when we left to train."

"I know, but still…this is different. His father was…" he drifted off. He could still hear the sick screams that had left Shun's lips.

"Dan, didn't he say that he was protecting you?" Drago asked.

"Yeah," he answered sullenly.

"I hate this! I couldn't do anything Drago," he whined. "I watched my best friend almost bleed out and die!" he yelled to no one in particular.

Drago hissed at him to quiet down, lest someone hear him.

Dan sighed, and walked past the café to go to the dreaded building that was currently holding his friend hostage.

Alice and Dan bumped into each other right as the elevator opened. Together in silence they made their way up to Shun's room, not saying anything but mumbled hellos. Drago had actually only seen Shun a couple times as of late, and every time he felt Shun looked worse.

Shun might have been saved from blood loss, but he wasn't alive. Not anymore.

"Hey Julie," Alice said cheerfully. "You can go home and relax okay?"

Julie looked between the two, and then nodded, "Alright. Don't overwork yourself Alice. Shun needs you to stay healthy."

Dan grinned, "We will, don't worry. It's my turn to stay anyway."

The silver-haired girl walked out of the room after mentioning to Dan that Shun hadn't woken up in the couple of hours she'd been there, but Dr. Date told her that was the morphine.

The pyrus brawler walked back into the room to see Alice holding Shun's hand, softly humming a tune. It was hard for all of them to see their group's strongest member so vulnerable, but it hit both Alice and Dan like a boulder.

"Alice, do you think he'll wake up anytime soon?" Dan asked.

She shook her head, "Not with the morphine levels that Dr. Date said he was on. It'll be at least another hour."

He smiled impishly, "Think I could grab a snack?"

She smiled, a real smile, "Sure Dan. Just don't stuff yourself, Runo would kill me."

The pyrus brawler strode out, chatting animatedly with his bakugan. The door closed and Alice turned back to Shun. The withdrawal was finally coming to a close, one chapter she could put past her to help him.

He always looked otherworldly with his good looks to her, but right now it was almost…ethereal to see him so comforted in his slumber. It had been a while since she'd seen his face look so carefree. Before this had all begun.

"He'll be fine," she crooned to herself. "He's Shun. I know that he'll make it out of this."

**I am just as much a part of this as he is, whether he wants me to be or not. I'll be there to help him in any way I can…**

She leaned in to peck his lips, "We're not letting you go this alone Shun, not this time."

**I am so sorry you guys. It's been a long couple weeks.**

**Dr. Date is from….anyone? No, well then. She's from Ronin Warriors. She's a main character's (Sage/Seiji) mother. I really didn't expect anyone to guess it, so I decided that the person who gave the best guess would get the prize of choosing a one-shot for me to write about. **

**And that is...drum roll...**

**ahsokazami2001, for saying that Dr. Date was Ryu's mother!**


	20. Chapter 19: Deserve

**I don't own bakugan**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics _is flashbacks/dreams

Ch. 19

Ryu sat in the jail cell, wondering who could have possibly wanted to come and talk to him. **Mamoru is gone for another week, and he'll take some time to get here. **That b*stard of a son had really messed with him. The assassin wasn't very happy with this situation.

**That brat deserved everything given to him and more. He looked too weak, too unteachable. That b*tch cradled him. Shun was a little mutt that wasn't worth the time.**

"I should have finished him off sooner. Those kids ruined everything."

**This is a stupid jail cell. I could get out easily. I should wait though. Depending on the sentence, I could use this for my advantage.**

"Stupid brat…Now he'll get back everything. He even took back that stupid little e-" he was cut off by the entrance of a familiar face.

"So, after thirteen years, we meet again."

"Brat," Ryu responded, making sure to put as much contempt as he could into that single acknowledgement.

"Why?" Dan inquired carefully. He knew that Ryu was a bit crazy at this point, but he never understood Shun's father's reasons. He had always rather kind to Dan.

_"Thank you Mr. Kazami!" four year old Dan crowed._

_The older man smiled, "Of course Dan. How could I let my son's best friend go home alone? Shun would be angry with me, and we wouldn't want that, would we?" he asked._

_"No way! Shun's my bestest friend and it's no fun when he's angry!" Dan chirped happily, unaware of the sneer that was placed on the man's face. "Bye Mr. Kazami!"_

_Ryu walked away from the door, "Goodbye Daniel."_

_"Hey, is it okay if I come over tomorrow?"_

_"I'm sorry Dan, Shun has some lessons to make up tomorrow from his Grandfather. Maybe after that."_

_The little Dan didn't hear the malice underlying the words and sadly nodded, but perked up at the promise of still meeting his friend after that._

"What?" Ryu snapped.

"Why would you try so hard to kill Shun? He never did anything to you."

"Why the hell would I explain my reasons to a brat?" Ryu sneered angrily. His curly hair whooshed around his face as his head turned away.

"I have the upper hand here Ryu."

"Like hell you do. Go away."

Dan stood up suddenly, sending his chair crashing to the ground, "Look. I'm not in the mood. Shun is currently in the hospital, and we're not sure why. My friends and I would like some answers now. Don't mess around Ryu."

He barked, "I'm an ASSASIN, brat. You can't do anything to me."

"I may not compare to Shun in the athletic department, but I can hurt you."

"You'd have every police on in minutes."

Dan shrugged, "I'll just say it was self-defense. You have no weapons on you to threaten me."

Ryu sat back down calmly, "I have nothing to tell you. Your friends will have to figure out what happened by yourselves. If I know my son well, which I do, he's sickeningly good at keeping secrets. He won't tell you anything."

Drago watched silently from his partner's pocket. **This is the man that hurt the group so badly…I oughta…**

Dan's eyes were usually a warm mahogany color, but they burned with flames now, "Ryu, if Shun ends up dying, you'll have a lot of problems. I hope you know that."

"With who? His fan clubs?"

"No, but you'll find out. You haven't yet been introduced to even a fraction of Shun's friends," Dan knew that little fazed Shun's father, but it was well worth the shot.

"I hope you have good luck with that Daniel. Tell the little raven that we're not finished. Not by a long shot."

Dan walked out, "Have fun in prison."

**Jazz here. I know, I know, it was weak, but hey, give me credit here! Well, until next time!**


	21. Chapter 20: Overcome

**I don't own bakugan**

**Bold** is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Ch. 20

It was a long process even after the nightmares had begun to settle down. Shun putting the strength back into his arm and leg was simple. During his time training, broken bones were a regular thing, so he already knew the exercises to help them recover faster.

For the group, it had been difficult to watch Shun fight off the heroin addiction. Ryu had injected enough for him to have serious withdrawal symptoms. Though the insomnia was fixed by morphine, but it did nothing to stop the high fever that began to rage through his system.

They had to go back to their jobs, but they always had at least one person waiting with him. They found that Alice and Dan had the best effect on him, but even they had trouble getting him to calm down. Dr. Date told them the symptoms would wear off again, but there was no way of telling when.

Dan walked in after the battles that day, tired of hearing fans ask where Shun was. People were beginning to question the idea of Shun being on vacation.

One time, photographers had actually followed Dan. Now, he knew how Shun felt when all those girls stalked him. He walked past the nurses' station, some of whom had greeted him. They knew the entire group well by now.

Alice was sitting next to the slumbering Shun. It had been one of his better days, but he was still teetering on the brink of another fever. She turned her head, "Oh, hi Dan. Good day?" she asked quietly.

"As much as it can get with people repeatedly asked about Shun. Ace and Spectra caught up to me today and they forced me to tell them the truth. I told them that he was in the hospital, but not to worry. They might be coming in a while."

She nodded silently. Dan looked closer at Alice, "You've been crying again. Alice, Dr. Date said he'll recover. Don't worry too much," he tried for a smile, "Shun will kill me for letting you cry."

He was rewarded with a small chuckle, "Sorry Dan. It's…just hard. I never would have imagined Shun with such a gruesome past. He's always so calm and collected. When he…" she faltered.

"I know what you mean Alice. I have never seen him so desperate before. This really shook him up, but he'll be okay. We just have to believe that. I mean, he's already getting back into using his leg and arm, and all the bruises are fine. His ribs'll be better soon too."

She sighed, "I know all that. I meant mentally," her reason for the tears spilled forth, "He won't even let ME touch him. Dan, I can tell. He still twitches whenever I try to get close, and grabbing his hand is like holding a shivering child. He always looks at me like he's not worth it."

"Let's go outside for a while Alice," he finally said. Dan knew what she said was true. Shun pretended like he was fine when he was awake, but he was in turmoil. The withdrawal, mental injuries, and hatred toward himself was affecting the ventus brawler.

She stood up. She kissed Shun's heated forehead lightly before moving out of the room. Hearing the door close, the topaz eyes snapped open. He'd listened to the entire conversation. He touched his forehead, the lingering effect of Alice's strawberry lip gloss still there.

He looked at the ceiling. He watched the white silently, not bothering to call the nurse for some medication. He ached all over, but it had hurt even more to see Alice so pained.

It was easy to pretend. It made the suffering a lot easier. It made being around his friends easier. He had done it his entire life, slipping into a mask to protect himself from feeling the same things that brought people to their knees.

He coughed harshly, trying not to upset his ribs to no avail. The fever seemed to be coming down again, but he couldn't be sure. He sat up as his best friend walked in.

"I thought so."

"What?" Shun asked.

"You were awake, weren't you?" Dan questioned, sitting in the chair that had just been occupied by the redhead.

Shun turned away from his friend. He wasn't going to answer that. **Why does Dan have to become so observant now? Someone up there must just love screwing with me.**

"Shun, come on," Dan began. "You have to at least let Alice know the truth. She looks just as bad as you when you kept this whole mess a secret."

"Why?" Shun's voice was hoarse from the lack of use and the fever taking its toll on him.

Dan sighed. It was hard to be the patient one. **I don't know HOW Shun ever did this all the time. **"She's your girlfriend Shun. You love her, and she loves you. Right now, it's hurting both of you to see the other suffer so badly.

Drago put in, "You have to try to let go of what Ryu did to you Shun."

Before Shun could protest, Dan interjected, "It's hard. I know it's a lot easier to just tell you than do it, but please. You're the strongest person I know, and you've never let anyone stop you before."

He continued, "You barely even touched any semblance of solid food since that stupid Jell-O! This isn't like you."

The ventus brawler hadn't even decided to mention Dan's use of a 'big' word. Shun brushed through his raven locks, combing them in irritation. "This is different. I can't just tell any of you about Ryu. It's not that simple Dan. Even if you've been my friend for seventeen years Dan, there's no way."

There, in that single moment, the pyrus brawler could see a glimpse of the former cold nineteen year old. Shun was looking outside. He looked almost longingly at the faint outline of the Interspace dome, just itching to get back into the realm of bakugan. Then, before Dan could say anything about it, Shun's mask slipped over, leaving nothing but a silent shell of the proud ninja.

The brawler watched the window, disregarding the chill he felt as a result of the fever and the dull ache whenever he coughed-which was a lot. He thought back to how he had tried so hard to keep this all from them.

**They weren't supposed to ever find out. They were supposed to stay safe. Instead, I'm stuck in the hospital and they're all worried.**

**But, if they hadn't butted in, we wouldn't be in this mess, would we, Shun? **The ugly thoughts pricked at his mind.

**Still, they're trying so hard just to keep me balanced. They did end up saving my life…**

**However, they ruined a lot of things that I worked so hard for. What about everything that I achieved up to this point?**

The first voice crushed the other one down, **Don't doubt them, Shun. They always supported you. They care for you, and they're all trying to help. It's time for you to move forward. Alice deserves better than what you've been giving her.**

Shun's eyes seemed to glaze over a bit, but he closed them again. Dan waited soundlessly for his friend to turn around. "Dan," Shun began, looking back at his friend.

Dan's eyebrow raised up a bit at the tone. It almost sounded…normal. There was no irritating underlay of hatred or anger. "Yeah?"

"How exactly am I supposed to fix this?" Shun's legs were crossed Indian-style on his bed, and he was slouching slightly as he regarded his loosely clenched fist.

"You can start by getting better."

Shun rolled his eyes, "You're just chock full of wisdom Dan." He sounded sarcastic. Though it was pathetic compared to his strong use of dry humor, it was a start.

"And getting over your little self-pity complex. You said that I had a guilt freak thing going on, and then you turn around and do this! Get over it Shun."

The ventus brawler gave a sound of protest, "Shut up Dan. This is different and you know it."

"No idea," Dan said, grinning at the sound of Shun's irritation, "I'm an idiot, remember?"

"You said it."

"You are SO lucky that you're injured," Dan retorted. "Lastly, you have to let all of us know what happened with Ryu. We deserve to know, Shun. Please?"

Shun's smirk faded. He seemed to look a lot older. His jaded eyes seemed to be smoldering, trying to burn the memories themselves so he never had to repeat them. How could he ever let his friends know about the terrors even he was too afraid to face?

**Jazz is finally here 3 I know, you guys missed me. This chapter was originally going to be the next one and this one combined, but they seemed to just transform. This turned out alright in my opinion, but I couldn't fit in the fever and injuries here. They're beginning to subside anyway.**

**See you all next chapter! Just two chapters left!**


	22. Chapter 21: Fall

**You guys deserve this extra chapter for putting up with my total lack of keeping up.**

**I don't own bakugan**

**Bold** is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Ch. 21

After that conversation, Shun began to accept help, though Dr. Date still said that he was a stubborn child, exactly like her son. Runo was beginning to wonder who her kid was.

That particular evening, they found themselves all settled around Shun's bed, Alice comfortably nestled in the crook of Shun's left arm.

The room was quiet as they took in what Shun had just said. Runo's outrage cry echoed through the room in retaliation to his story, "What a psycho!"

"How could he do something like that to his own kid?" Julie asked softly, the tears only beginning to dry.

Shun shrugged, "I didn't know, I didn't care," he said bluntly. His voice made it clear that he never wanted to think about the why.

Dan had a stormy look on his face, "Dude, I always thought your dad was a cool guy. He was always so nice to me."

Shun smirked, "He thought you were a brat that was filling my head with crap."

Marucho pushed up his glasses, "A brat?" he echoed.

"Yeah. Dan was always coming over, so it interrupted a lot of 'lessons', which he wasn't ever really pleased about," Shun answered.

Dan had a face like he was thinking. "Shun, how long have you been protecting Dan?" Drago asked Shun.

"Drago," Shun stated dryly, "Your partner ALWAYS need saving."

The group was laughing at the red-faced Dan even as Dr. Date walked in.

"See you Shun," Marucho called.

"Bye Shun!" Julie chirped.

Runo looked at her surrogate brother, "Stay safe Shun."

"See ya later Shun!" Dan said.

Alice waited for them to leave before giving him a kiss, "See you tomorrow. Don't strain yourself Shun," she said, looking at his face.

"I won't," he agreed. He felt better than he had in days, weeks even. Dan had been right. Though it had taken effort, it was worth the smile on Alice's face to tell them about Ryu. He had left some serious details out, like specific tortures, but they respected that.

Alice walked slowly, "Love you Shun," and she exited. She didn't need a response to know his feelings.

Dr. Date was swift in checking all his vitals, "You're physical recovery rate was extremely fast to begin with, but it's sped up in the past week. Any reason?" she smiled.

Shun shook his head, "Nothing."

"At this rate, you'll be out soon. No more than two to three weeks."

"Two weeks? That's soon?" Shun asked wryly.

She chuckled. "That's fast Shun. Most people in your case would still be getting over the withdrawal. All you have left to really get over is the fever and the broken ribs. Everything else is pretty much safe."

Shun groaned, "That's too long…"

BAKUGANBAKUGAN

Mamoru walked silently into the ward. He'd been watching Shun's friends for the past couple days after visiting Ryu under the pretense of Shun's lawyer.

He walked along the empty hallway carefully, smiling kindly at the nurses that passed. All he was doing was going to check up on a patient while his colleague took a nice nap in the staff room. Nothing more or less. **To them, anyway…**

He fingered the needle that was in his pocket in anticipation. It had been too bad that he had missed all the action, being on a job and all. He thought back over the plan.

_Mamoru straightened his tie and picked up his briefcase, "I'm here to speak to Ryu Kazami."_

_"Why are you here?" the secretary stated, beginning her procedure._

_"I am here on the behalf of my client, who was victim to the man in question."_

_"Credentials?" she asked, putting her hand out. He ruffled through his pocket and picked out an immaculate pocketbook sized paper. She skimmed through them and handed them back._

_"Everything looks fine. Go right ahead, I'll tell them you're coming."_

_He entered the jail cell with no question, though they did warn him that Ryu was dangerous. To keep up his personage of haughty lawyer, he chuckled and stated that he was skilled in several martial arts._

_"Ryu Kazami?" he asked, his tone authoritative._

_"Ryu?" he questioned again after they closed the door and walked away._

_"Mamoru. So you've heard."_

_"What happened? You can defeat ten men at once, but your son took you down?"_

_"It was his pesky brat friends. I told you that his weakness was his friends. Instead though, they ended up helping him. Disgusting b*stards."_

_"Any way I can help?" Mamoru inquired dutifully._

_Ryu leered, "Of course. I'll need your expertise anyway. My son will have to be in the hospital. I saw the ambulance, here's the hospital name," he slid over a paper._

_Mamoru pocketed it quietly, "So, I'll trace the room number. Got it."_

_"So, knowing you, you already have a way of finishing him for me, don't you?" Ryu probed._

_"Leave that to me." With that, Mamoru asked the men to open the door. He picked up his hat and briefcase, "Good day Ryu Kazami."_

_Ryu nodded his head, "A good day it is indeed."_

He silently opened the door, careful not to disturb anything as he walked in. Quietly, he strode over to the IV that was in Shun's arm. Mamoru looked at the sweatpant-clad boy, and then took out the syringe.

Flicking it to empty air bubbles, he smiled. **This is my best poison. Carefully extracted from the most deadly of plants, mixed with drugs, and set with carbon. Perfect. There's no way he could ever survive this, no matter how much of a fighter he may be.**

He emptied the contents into the thin tube. He suddenly stepped back when Shun's eyes opened. The ventus brawler sat up, expected to see Dr. Date when he had heard that faint ping in the back of his head. "Mamoru," he hissed.

The blonde man smiled, "I'm honored that you remember me. Too bad I'm the last thing you'll ever see. You could have happily died in your sleep, thinking about your little b*tch."

"What did you do?" Shun asked dangerously. He thought about the syringe. It was still plunged downward, facing…

"IV," he muttered. Yanking it out rapidly, he kicked Mamoru. It wasn't the biggest or hard, but it was enough to disconcert the man.

He pressed the call button on the side of the bed just as Mamoru grabbed him again. Struggling, he was pushed back into the bed. Shun could already see the blurriness seep into his eyesight. The next moment found him unable to breathe freely.

Mamoru opened the window facing outside. He waited for Shun's eyes to close, "Good night, little raven."

The door on the other end of the room burst open as a nurse and policeman sped in. The man headed straight for Mamoru, who easily jumped out the window and fled into the night.

"Requesting back-up now. Blonde, six feet, tan skin. Dark blue jacket and possibly a nurse uniform." The police hurriedly walked out.

The nurse skimmed over Shun's vitals. Everything was going haywire. **Oh no, no, no. None of this is right. Better call in now. I can't do anything. **She spotted all the wires that had been tugged off Shun's body, and the pool of liquid by the IV.

Two more nurses came in, having heard the commotion. "What's wrong?"

The first nurse was panicking, "I'm not sure. A man was in here. Something's seriously wrong."

"Call Dr. Date. NOW," she ordered. As head nurse, she could not lose her head.

The first walked out swiftly, ready to get Dr. Date. The two nurses were looking over Shun, holding the convulsing figure down.

**Sh*t, I can't open my eyes. I feel like everything's closing in on me… **Shun's mind was a whirlwind, still utterly collapsing.

The group walked in, and made their way to Shun's room just like any other day. The five were in high spirits as they happily talked. Dan looked up as he noticed several people in uniform headed down the hallway. **What's going on? Why are they headed toward Shun's room?**

"What's going on?" he demanded. He rushed up, followed closely by Alice.

Runo caught a nurse's arm, "What's wrong in that room?" she pointed at Shun's room.

The nurse wrenched her arm away, "I'm sorry, I have to hurry. That patient needs immediate attention."

Alice stood aside but caught another's attention, "What happened? That's my boyfriend," she asked.

It was a harried response, "Please stay out of the room. Your friend will be fine, just please calm down."

Dr. Date rushed down the hall and shooed the nurses into the room, "Alice, please, I need you and the others out here."

"Dr. Date, we need you in here!" A woman's voice pierced the doctor's before she could go on.

"On it!" she called out. She looked back at the group. "You five, sit down out here," she looked at Alice, "Calm down, everything will be fine."

Dr. Date walked in. She walked straight past the three nurses waiting for her. "You, prep the stretcher. You, go down to the operating room, we need to get it ready. He's going to need serious help. You, stay, I'll need help."

She swallowed down the harsh feeling of pain as she looked at him. He had been doing so well, and now he looked like the night he had just walked into the ICU. She checked the IV, "Oh, no. He has poison in him, doesn't he?" Dr. Date remarked to herself. She had spotted the small puncture in the tube.

Picking up the leftover syringe, "Go give this to the lab. It might help save his life. Hurry!" she said to the nurse. The male nurse laid Shun on the gurney, avoiding touching the open wound on his arm.

The two nurses that had left rushed back inside, and were quickly directed by Dr. Date. The male nurse handed Dr. Date a small paper. She read it, not completely comprehending the words, but understanding that the raven most likely signified Shun.

**_Remember the phoenix?_**

**_It told the raven to stay quiet,_**

**_But it took no heed._**

**_The raven can fly,_**

**_That little raven can soar away,_**

**_But it will never be free._**

She crumpled the paper and turn back to her patient. The elegant woman watched painfully as Shun's body began to try and take in air. Dr. Date walked out first, followed by the one of the three nurses. Her black bun was in disarray as she ran down the hall.

Alice stood up immediately, "Is he okay?" she asked.

Dr. Date took a breath and didn't answer her, "Come on, hurry up. We need to get him down there now."

Dan felt like everything just dropped out of his stomach. He watched the white bed come out, his best friend sleeping as if it were another day. Alice looked at the moving gurney with wide eyes.

"S-Shun!" she cried suddenly. She rushed to walk alongside the wheeled stretcher. They all had seen Shun, and it hurt even more than the first time.

He was wearing an oxygen mask to support his nonexistent breathing. There was sweat and tears mingled on his face, making his quickly turned pale skin glisten. His eyes were shut painfully, and his body shivered and twitched.

The nurse held Alice back, gently pushing her into Julie's arms. The redhead was struggling to pull herself from the silver-haired girl, but let it go. She sat on a seat next to Dan, hugging herself with her knees pulled up.

"What the hell?" Runo yelled, "How could this happen? What happened anyway?" she asked rhetorically.

Marucho and Julie sat down as well. Marucho took a deep breath, "We'll just wait to find out."

"He'll be fine. With everything that's happened, there's no way he'll…" Dan led off. He couldn't think of the possibility.

Drago couldn't even imagine the group without Shun. He balanced everyone else out. He also enjoyed the calm brawler who was able to keep his partner in check.

In the operating room, hopes weren't as high. The nurse watched fearfully as Dr. Date assessed everything. If she knew her medicines right, the boy on the table in front of her had no chance. She still did her duty and set up anything that the doctor would decide to use.

Right then, the black-haired nurse rushed in, "They've identified the poison," she gave the report to Dr. Date and left the room. Upon coming out, she spotted the five looking at her. She wiped at her eyes and approached them.

"It will be fine. He's a fighter," she said softly to Alice.

"Do you know what happened?" Runo asked.

The nurse shook her head, "I came in late. But, they told me that he was poisoned. A man escaped through the window just when the nurse currently inside to operating room entered. I'm sorry I don't know more." **How can I tell them that their friend has almost no chance of surviving? This poison is unique, and it slows the heart painfully, slowly creating a feeling of the lungs being crushed. How could I ever help them, even as a nurse, knowing his destiny?**

Back inside, Dr. Date was preparing the only thing at this point that could possibly save him: a straight shock to his chest so they could keep him alive as they got the poison out.

She tried desperately not to look at the patient that was dying before her very eyes. She herself had become charmed by both him and his friends.

Shun's body was officially detached from his mind. It took unauthorized shivers and turned them into pressure against his lungs. His breathing was extremely shallow and his heart was coming to a stop. Yet, his mind was fully awake, trying to fight what he had allowed to take him.

**My father is not winning, he's ruled my life for too long. I can't let this happen. But, my body won't listen to me. I-I can't breathe…my head hurts so bad… **The doubts started to overcome the pride and determination. Sure enough, within minutes, the surety turned into remorse, and the pride into goodbyes.

Dr. Date looked at the heart monitor, and was shocked to see the number rapidly dropping. Nothing was helping. Yet, she plowed through her own hesitation.

**_96 beats._**

Marucho looked at the closed doors before turning back to his hands. Shun had just been getting ready to leave in two weeks. **And now, this happens… I hope Shun'll be alright. What am I thinking! Of course he will, he's Shun. He has to be.**

The small blonde thought about the ninja. True, he and Shun weren't as close as per say Dan, but that time that the pair had spent during Dan's disappearance had truly changed his perspective about the quiet raven. He did have his moments.

Shun would not die. Not today.

**_75 beats._**

Runo stared at the room's door. She could faintly see the people rushing about trying to stabilize her brother. Dr. Date was yelling, but none of them heard what. **Why Shun? He's quiet and all, and a bit annoying with his sarcasm, but he can't lose to this. He promised that he would never go anywhere without all of us backing him up.**

Shun had become her brother. He had been there to support her, to give her advice, and to help her handle Dan. He was just as close as Alice in her book.

Shun would not break his promise. Not ever.

**_38 beats._**

Julie was trying to control her breathing. Her phone was flipped open to Billy's number, but she couldn't bring herself to call him again. She had just called to tell him that Shun was fine. Maybe it was okay to let him have that comfort for a while longer. **This is awful. Shun was just getting better! It's not fair! He has to live. He just has to. For all of us.**

She knew that she wasn't as close to him as everyone else was, but there was something about him that calmed her. She felt a comfort when he was around them all. He did help, in his own way.

Shun would not leave them. Not now.

**_12 beats._**

Dan tried to not hear the sounds that were clattering about inside. Shun was his best friend, if not his brother. The noise around him was muffled, but he could hear the slowing sound of something inside the room. What it was, he didn't want to know. **Shun said he would be fine. He can't give in, not yet. There is still so much for him to do.**

He still had a lot to talk to Shun about. There was plenty that had gone on in the outside world, and all the people that were talking about him. His own mother had just found out about Shun, and was coming to see him and whack a little sense into her second son's head.

Dan had seen the progress Shun was making. He was becoming Shun again, the one that they all remembered.

Shun would not give up. Not soon.

**_0._**

Alice couldn't feel for a moment. Her head shot up when the all too horrifying sound of fear shot through them. Even her tears seemed to freeze up on her cheeks as everything stopped around her. **No. No…please…no…**

Shun had to be fine. He had to be. After everything that happened, he was alive. That monitor was just malfunctioning. It was a mistake. It wasn't real, she was dreaming.

Her legs collapsed under her standing form. **When did I stand up? **She was still looking at the closed room's doors, sobbing. Her hands were covering her mouth as she tried to breathe.

"No, Shun…please…Shun," she whimpered. Unknowingly, she found herself leaning against Dan's chest, closing her eyes and sobbing. She sat there, Runo on her other side, her own green orbs misty with water.

Dan held his best friend's girlfriend close, trying to find his own solace in her and his own love. This couldn't be happening.

The silent cries echoed along the hallway, harmonized with the single note of Shun's empty heart. The five sat there, huddled together, falling into their faith and hope.

The ventus brawler wasn't going to die. Shun had too much here to leave them now.

"I'm sorry."

**Jazz again! Well, who else… Anyway, only one more chapter! I can't wait for the end…well, I kinda hated myself for it, but all the same…**

**Hope to see you review.**


	23. Epilogue: Rise

**I don't own bakugan. Well, we're finally coming to the finish line. Here we go...I hope I did him justice...**

**Bold **is thoughts

_Italics_ is flashbacks

Epilogue

"And after coming back from a long vacation period…" the announcers yelled into his microphone, "The winner is Dan Kuso!" The male smiled at the crowd, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. The crowd was cheering, but he wasn't soaking it up like he usually would.

He looked over at the other side where the challenger had left. His eyes drifted over to the crowd, where he could see hundreds of new faces. **So much has changed. It's hard to believe it's already been a month since- **He stopped himself. He couldn't think like that. Dan knew that he had to put it in the past if they had any hope of moving on.

**Alice… **Dan thought morosely.

"And his partner that we've all missed, Shun Kazami!" the announcer crowed. …**Is going to kill me, **Dan finished, looking at Shun.

The two walked away, Dan watching his friend's back as they exited. He walked up to Shun, who was nonchalantly striding with the virtual wind flowing through his black hair. They had just finished Shun's first battle in almost three months.

Dan thought back to after Shun got out of hospital, which had been extended thanks to that close call after the poison. He had been forced into hours of rest by his girlfriend and friends. After those two weeks, he stood another two weeks of trial against his father.

_The heart monitor's beep was the only sound throughout the long hallway for the five waiting outside, as well as for the ones inside the operating room. _

**_The boy that had overcome so much pain and torture, was he really going to let go of hope? _**_Dr. Date thought. She looked at the pale face that wasn't breathing and made a choice. She wasn't giving up on him._

_"Clear!" she ordered. The nurses around her stared at her refusal to give up. The shock arched Shun's body upward, but he remained silent. Dr. Date's mind was clear of everything but that single patient, who was so much like her son, she could NOT. Let. Him. Die. _

_She had the nurse send the voltage as high as she could without killing him herself. It was risky. Right now, she made her decision. She would either save his life, or end it right there._

_The elegant doctor pushed the paddles on the chest of a boy who had suffered so much, had overcome great obstacles, and had even more to live for. He would not end his life in the hospital. Not then, not ever. He was destined for so much more than that._

_The electricity finally ran through his veins, shocking the sleeping cells awake, rushing them past every tendon and muscle awakening his heart. The message continued across his bones and skull, crash landing in his brain. Shun's eyes snapped open and his chest lifted suddenly._

_Dr. Date sighed in relief, and put the paddles down. Shun looked at her, his topaz pools riddled in confusion. _

_"Welcome back to the world of the living."_

Shun took a deep breath, ignoring that Dan had come into step with him. **Everything is finally over. The other man, Mamoru, is in jail for a long time, and Ryu has a nice little home in maximum security. **The trial had been long and hard, but it was all worth it to see Ryu gone and Alice's happiness.

_The judge looked at Shun. "And, so with all these charges, do you claim this man guilty?" he asked, though the answer was clear. The five behind him sat quietly, occasionally glaring at the man who shot them back looks just as vicious. _

_Shun, surprisingly, was smiling. "Yes, I do. But, I also have some interesting things I heard from Ryu. He said that he occupied his time to get himself as an assassin. We have a list of over thirty people dead from his accord."_

_"He's sneaky, but no one is completely invisible in the twenty-first century. I think Interpol would be very intrigued by the things he told me," the ventus brawler turned toward the enraged Ryu. _

_The usually stone-cold, emotionless man looked like he was about to pounce on his son, had the police not restrained him. The judge raised his eyebrows and looked at the list. So, during all the torture, he had even kept track of everything said. __**This boy is beyond anything I've seen. I have never seen a boy so abused, yet able to stand before the world so calmly.**_

_"With this evidence," he stated, looking at the jury, who still remained horrified by Shun's story "and in light of recent events," The judge glared coldly at Ryu, "You are found guilty, Ryu Kazami."_

"Hey, Shun, you feelin' alright?" Dan asked his silent friend. Shun seemed lost in thought. He was still able to avoid hitting anything, which was a very unfair skill in Dan's book.

Shun gave him an exasperated look, "For the last time Dan, I'm fine! It's been a month, you can stop mother-henning me!" he stated.

Dan gave him a glare in return, "You were poisoned Shun!" he raised his hands for emphasis, "Alice will kill me just for letting you battle with me! I have to make sure that you don't die on me."

"I'm glad that my fiancé can inject that much fear into you," Shun said, his smirk having fully returned.

Dan gave a huff, "She doesn't scare me. It's just that- Wait, did you just say fiancé?" he asked, startled at the sudden change from girlfriend.

Shun nodded, still smirking, "As of last night."

"Shun! Why don't you tell me these things!" Dan yelled, earning the attention of some fans. He quieted down and turned away from the big group. They looked a bit starry-eyed. They sped down an emptier hallway.

Drago looked at his partner from his shoulder perch, "You would spy on him, Dan."

"That's the point!" Dan grinned.

"So, Dan, when do you plan on asking Runo?" Shun asked, smoothly changing the subject. He was EXTREMELY glad that Dan' attention span was so small.

There was absolute silence for about a minute or so. He waited for his partner to answer.

Dan looked away from Shun, "Maybe in a month or something…" he mumbled extremely quietly. Even Shun's ears had trouble picking it up. Drago looked at his partner chuckling quietly all the while.

Shun grinned, "This is going to be a fun four weeks."

"Shun!" Dan yelled, blushing furiously. His color put his jacket to shame, and he ran to catch up with his friend.

Everything was well in the world again. Shun had his life back, and his past had officially become lost in the wave of time.

The phoenix may be able to rise from the flames,

But the raven can keep itself from death.

**And that's all! I hope you guys liked it. It was a bit hard to write at times, but it was all worth it in the end. Man, outlines really help keep me on track!**

**One quick question: Do you guys want a sequel? Just send in a review or PM me!**

**Until the next story you guys! Love you all!**


End file.
